Lessons from the 'Dark' Side
Emotional Labour and Positioning in Cross-Sectoral Collaborations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23987/sts.130957Abstract
Collaboration across disciplines and stakeholders is important in handling complex societal problems. Even if collaborating is acknowledged as contributing towards societal change and innovation, collaborators’ emotional experiences during development, consolidation and completion of a given project are underexplored. This article discusses emotional labour in three cross-sectoral collaborations using participatory observations and interviews. It analyses the potentials and pitfalls of focusing on emotional labour that foregrounds collaboration as a dynamic that changes with the development phases of a project trajectory. The study finds that rendering interpersonal dynamics visible may both be a way to gain authority and legitimization in the collaboration but can also be used as a strategy to marginalise others. On the other hand, maintaining the invisibility of emotional labour can also be an expression of power. The obscurity of these complex dynamics makes it difficult to navigate and propose what makes a good collaboration. The paper aims to contribute, from a practitioner-oriented and theoretical vantage point to a more reflexive and sustainable practice and nuanced understandings of collaborative practices in research and at an institutional level, particularly in the field of social change and innovation.
Downloads
Published
Versions
- 2025-09-15 (2)
- 2024-04-26 (1)
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Katia Dupret, Anya Umantseva, Daniela Lazoroska
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Terms & Conditions
This Science & Technology Studies website ("Site") is owned and operated by The Finnish Society for Science and Technology Studies (“Society”). The Finnish Society for Science and Technology Studies and its publication Science & Technology Studies are non-profit organizations.
By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions below ("Terms and Conditions"). These Terms and Conditions incorporate by reference and include the Site's Privacy Policy and any guidelines, rules or disclaimers that may be posted and updated on specific web pages or on notices that are sent to you. If you do not agree with these Terms and Conditions, please do not use this Site.
The Society reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms and Conditions at its discretion at any time and without prior notice. Please check this page periodically for any modifications. Your continued use of this Site following the posting of any changes will mean that you have accepted the changes.
Copyrights and Limitations on Use
Content on this website is protected by Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0. The copyright of articles remains with the authors but the license permits other users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the published articles. Using and sharing the content is permitted as long as original materials are appropriately credited. Metadata (e.g. the article title) is an exeption - this is licensed under CC0 that permits the distribution of the article information - not content - in archives and databases.
The Site may contain robot exclusion headers, and by using the Site you agree that you will not use any robots, spiders, crawlers or other automated downloading programs or devices to access, search, index, monitor or copy any Content. The harvesting of postal or email addresses from the Site for purposes of sending unsolicited or unauthorized commercial material, is prohibited.
You may not use the services on the Site to publish or distribute any information (including software or other content) that is illegal; violates or infringes upon the rights of any other person; is abusive, hateful, profane, pornographic, threatening or vulgar; contains errors, viruses or other harmful components; or is otherwise actionable by law. Science & Technology Studies may at any time exercise editorial control over the content of any information or material that is submitted or distributed through its facilities and/or services.
You may not, without the approval of Science & Technology Studies, use the Site to publish or distribute any advertising, promotional material, or solicitation to other users of the Site to use any goods or services. For example (but without limitation), you may not use the Site to conduct any business, to solicit the performance of any activity that is prohibited by law, or to solicit other users to become subscribers of other information services. Similarly, you may not use the Site to download and redistribute public information or shareware for personal gain or use the facilities and/or services to distribute multiple copies of public domain information or shareware.
Trademarks
All trademarks appearing on this Site are the property of their respective owners.
Links to Other Sites
The Site may contain hyperlinks to other sites or resources that are provided solely for your convenience. Science & Technology Studies is not responsible for the availability of external sites or resources linked to the Site, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. Transactions that occur between you and any third party are strictly between you and the third party and are not the responsibility of Science & Technology Studies. Due to the fact that Science & Technology Studies is not responsible for the availability or accuracy of these outside resources or their contents, you should review the terms and conditions and privacy policies of these linked sites, as their policies may differ from ours.
Last revised: 3 Aug 2020
