Lifestyle enterprising: the ‘ambiguity work’ of Swedish horse-farmers

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of ambiguity work as a specific form of work–life balancing performed when making a livelihood based on leisure interests and a personal lifestyle. The study focuses on female self-employed horse-farmers in Sweden involved in service work with and through horses. Through an analysis of narratives and practices of this service work, based on ethnographic interviews and observations, boundary negotiations of various social spheres are discernible: work and life, and the commercial and the personal. The analysis shows that the horse-farmers perform a delicate and ongoing balancing act between family interests, individual leisure and paid work. Drawing on the notion of sociological ambivalence, it is suggested that this balancing act does not strive for demarcations, but rather to stay betwixt and between social spheres. It is argued that lifestyle enterprising is enacted and confirmed through ongoing boundary negotiations, or ambiguity work, that sustain a tension between keeping and blurring social boundaries. It is further argued that ambiguity work in this type of lifestyle enterprising both reinforces and questions ideals and norms concerning small business management and professional versus nonprofessional relationships.

El artículo introduce el concepto del hacer ambiguo como una forma específica de acto equilibrista entre la vida privada y el trabajo que se realiza al ganarse la vida haciendo algo basado en los pasatiempos y en un estilo de vida personal. El estudio está enfocado en las mujeres que trabajan por cuenta propia en granjas de caballos en Suecia y que realizan tareas de servicio a los caballos y con ellos. Mediante un análisis de los relatos y las prácticas de esas tareas de servicio, basado en entrevistas y observaciones etnográficas, se pueden discernir los ajustes que se hacen entre las diferentes esferas sociales: entre el trabajo y la vida privada y entre lo comercial y lo personal. El análisis muestra que las empresarias con granjas de caballos realizan un continuo y delicado acto equilibrista entre los intereses familiares, el ocio individual y el trabajo remunerado. Recurriendo a la noción de la ambivalencia social, se sugiere que dicho acto de equilibrismo no busca lograr demarcaciones sino más bien permanecer entre una esfera social y la otra. Se argumenta que el emprendimiento de un estilo de vida es realizado y confirmado mediante un ajuste continuo de los límites, o mediante el hacer ambiguo, lo cual mantiene una tensión entre el conservar y el borrar los límites sociales. Se arguye también que el hacer ambiguo en este tipo de emprendimiento de un estilo de vida refuerza y cuestiona a la vez las normas relacionadas con la gestión de pequeñas empresas y las relaciones profesionales en oposición a las no profesionales.

Keywords:

• work–life balance
• sociological ambivalence
• boundary negotiations
• horse-farm
• gender

Palabras claves:

• acto equilibrista
• ambivalencia social
• hacer ambiguo
• granjas de caballos
• el sexo

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Malin Åkerström for her supportive and critical reading of this manuscript, and colleagues from the department of Service Management and Service Studies who commented on an early seminar version of the manuscript. I would also like to thank the anonymous referees for their insightful comments.

Funding

The research presented in this paper has been financially supported by The Swedish Research Council (2009–2120) and the Swedish-Norwegian Foundation for Equine Research [grant number H0947068].

Notes on contributor

Erika Andersson Cederholm is associate professor at the Department of Service Management and Service Studies, Lund University. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and her research interests embrace the intersection between culture, economy, and social interactions, including service encounters and family-business management. Her recent research focuses on the commodification and organization of intimacy and emotions in service work, lifestyle enterprising, and the boundary work between commercial and noncommercial life spheres in service contexts.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: The research presented in this paper has been financially supported by The Swedish Research Council (2009–2120) and the Swedish-Norwegian Foundation for Equine Research [grant number H0947068].