Hospitality is popularly regarded as unskilled work and the industry relies on a young labour force. This paper examines the role of youth in the way that the ‘unskilled’ status of hospitality labour is defined and contested by workers. Drawing on qualitative data collected with hospitality workers, the paper creates new connections between theories of affective labour, the politics of skills, and conceptions of youth in relation to work. The paper shows that the capacity to be ‘fun’ and produce affects of enjoyment in hospitality venues is essentialised as an attribute of youth, who are regarded as essentially unskilled. Youth is enacted in the social relations of affective labour, including the requirement to produce affects of enjoyment. The paper shows how theories of affective labour can be developed to consider the materialities of low-wage service employment and demonstrates the significance of youthful subjectivities to social relations of hospitality work.

中文翻译：

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青年和酒店工作：技能、主观性和情感劳动


酒店业普遍被认为是非技术性工作，该行业依赖年轻劳动力。本文探讨了青年在酒店业劳动力的“非熟练”地位被工人定义和争论的方式中所扮演的角色。该论文利用酒店工作人员收集的定性数据，在情感劳动理论、技能政治和青年与工作的观念之间建立了新的联系。该论文表明，在接待场所中“有趣”并产生享受效果的能力被视为年轻人的一个属性，而年轻人被认为本质上是无技能的。青年是在情感劳动的社会关系中形成的，包括产生享受情感的要求。本文展示了如何发展情感劳动理论来考虑低工资服务业就业的实质性，并论证了青年主体性对酒店工作社会关系的重要性。