Main content

Outsourced Cultures - Happiness Letters

Call centre workers in India are trained to emulate their callers. Laurie hears how this leads to a parallel hybrid culture of westernised names and habits in India.

In the Indian call centre or 'outsourcing' industry, workers are trained to emulate the American or British workers which they have replaced. They change their names, take on western accents and develop lifestyles organised around a foreign culture in a distant time zone. Laurie Taylor is joined by Henrietta Moore to talk to Shehzad Nadeem about his new study into the hybrid culture these Asian employees have created.
Also on the programme the writer Marek Kohn joins Laurie to discuss the Thinking Allowed audience's spirited response to Pascal Bruckner's indictment of the culture of happiness.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Mon 14 Mar 2011 00:15

Broadcasts

  • Wed 9 Mar 2011 16:00
  • Mon 14 Mar 2011 00:15

Explore further with The Open University

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with The Open University

Download this programme

Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.

Podcast