ABSTRACT
Saskia Sassen argues that analyses of global processes in terms of international trade and investment have produced a “rather empirically and theoretically ‘thin’ account” of the ways in which “the global economy needs to be implemented, reproduced, serviced, fi nanced” (2001: 190, 192). Sassen notes that, “the global economy cannot be taken simply as given, whether what is given is a set of markets or a function of the power of multinational corporations” (2000: 217). Instead, the focus on the micro-processes through which global economies are sustained allows for analyses of the ways in which diverse groups of workers play varied and active roles vis-à-vis transnational corporate and fi nancial practices. This chapter explores one such micro-process of globalization – employee training. We highlight the ways in which training programs in Indian call centres facilitate workers’ learning of both the product for which they provide service and of the “hidden curriculum” (Casey 1995: 78) of service work which includes the social and cultural messages of imperialism. These are the rules, codes and symbols that people learn through emulating Western accents, learning about their customers’ lifestyles and dealing effectively with the (often racial) outbursts of angry customers.
