Creeping and Ameliorative Accounts of “Work”

Abstract:This paper considers whether there are reasons to be worried about two controversial expansions to the concept “work” —sex work and emotional labor. It asks, through the lens of Sally Haslanger’s ameliorative conceptual analysis, what happens when an activity is described as “work” and examines the political and theoretical implications of such conceptual creeps. It argues that when an activity is claimed as “work,” a claim is simultaneously made about “work.” It concludes that we need not be pedantic about the application of the “work” to new areas, but that careful attention should be paid to semantic shift.