Paper long abstract:

The rapid growth of the information technology sector in India has thrown open numerous opportunities for young women to work for attractive salaries in international call centres in cities of India. This has led to the migration of young women from different parts of the country to cities like Bangalore for the purpose of employment. Call centres present a site where young women come under the direct influence of US-centric cultural values and norms in their work lives. They are given training to inculcate these values and norms to facilitate their dealings with their American customers. These women also reside in a city that is undergoing rapid socio-cultural transition due to the forces of globalisation.

While the work lives and residence in the city symbolises a context for Americanization, the middle class background of the women employed in the call centres reflects their socialisation within a family culture that may differ completely from the values they encounter in their current lives. Thus the influence of diverse values and expectations in the lives of the women creates a situation of conflicting demands and aspirations. Against this backdrop, my ethnographic research explores the ways in which women working in call centres understand, behave and cope with these tensions in their personal lives.