feeling quite sceptical of the purported beneficial claims sometimes made forADR. There is clearly identified here wide gaps between the normative rhetoricof ADR and the reality of practice. According to the author, these gaps reflect alack of understanding, both by practitioners and disputants, of the nature of ADRand the ethical responsibilities of the ADR practitioner. Part of the problem theauthor identifies is that the conflict consultants employed often confuse their rolewith that of ‘management consultants’.

Paradoxically most of those parties engaged in these studies felt satisfied bythe process because it was procedurally fair. The author thereby identifies one ofthe key contradictions evident in the wider ADR field. That is that, even if aprocess is regarded as equitable and procedurally fair, it does not necessarily leadto fair outcomes. This will no doubt be an issue that will be developed andexplored at some length as Work Choices becomes fully operational.

The author predicts that ADR, which will occur principally in non-unionisedor poorly unionised and ‘new economy’ service industries, will contribute to thefurther marginalisation of unions. Its effect on the AIRC itself is harder to predict,but as well as reducing the tribunal’s workload and allowing it to respond to majordisputes, the changes may in fact erode members’ knowledge and expertise in theirindustry of specialisation.

No doubt the bipartisan neoliberal political agenda in Australia over the pasttwo decades will be further consolidated by these changes, but the issues raised bythe author point to some significant issues which may cause some pause for reflec-tion. She concludes, perhaps rather optimistically, that the future of workplaceADR will depend on practitioners themselves taking control of the standardsrequired.

Peter Condliffe, Owen Dixon Chambers East, Melbourne, Australia

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Sharon Bolton. 2005.Emotion management in the workplaceISBN 0 333 99017 X, vii + 190 pages; A$82; Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan

Emotion management in the workplace aims to provide conceptual clarity to the areaof research surrounding workplace emotions by presenting a multidimensionalportrayal of emotions in organisational life from a social constructionist perspec-tive. This book makes an important contribution to emotion research by focusingon the broader organisational context as well as the individual level in which boththe impact of organisational feeling rules, or the emotional scripts that offer inter-pretive schemes and norms about how to be an active member of an organisation,and the rules of social interaction are explored.

After introducing the objectives of the book in chapter 1, the first threechapters of the book are devoted to reviewing various management, organisationaltheory, and emotional labour literature. These chapters provide a history as well

as important insight into how human interaction and emotions have been viewedfrom various organisational theoretical perspectives. Most importantly, the reviewof literature within these chapters draws attention to the lack of focus on humaninteraction within organisational literature. For example, in chapter 2 the authorargues that ‘pop management’ theories regarding human interaction continuouslyemerge in which human actors, along with their thoughts, feelings and emotionstend to be relegated to the background. Rather, such theories are presented ashaving a preference for emphasising organisational rationality, or the ‘positive andbuoyant’ (p. 36) side of organisations, with little regard for the complexities andconsequences of human interaction.

In reviewing specific emotion management literature in chapter 3, the authorprovides a critique of the definition of emotional labour, suggesting that themajority of emotional labour research places an over-emphasis upon organisationalfeeling rules and the divide between the emotions that individuals experience andmanage within their private and public lives. This critique in itself provides animportant contribution to emotion management research by arguing that the term‘emotional labour’ cannot be used in a ‘one size fits all’ sense and that emotionsare managed in different ways according to the nature of work and industry, aswell as the vulnerability of individuals. The author argues that these factors needto be taken into account if an understanding of the motivation behind emotionaldisplays is to be gained. In order to explore these motivations further, the authoradopts a social constructionist approach, which is discussed in chapter 4. The socialconstructionist perspective suggests that individuals are in control of theiremotions, thus choosing which emotions to display within specific contexts ratherthan reacting to organisational or societal rules. This discussion is essential indeveloping (as well as understanding) key arguments that are presentedthroughout the remainder of the book.

In response to the critique of literature provided in the first half of the book,the author uses the latter half (chapters 5–8) to explore and discuss different waysthat individuals may display emotions in the workplace. Chapter 5 provides anoverview of the typology of emotion management in which the author introducesfour types of workplace emotion: pecuniary, prescriptive, presentational, and phil-anthropic. Admittedly, due to the subjective nature of emotions, I was a bitconcerned at first about the use of categories to develop emotion types. However,detailed explanation of the different types in chapters 6 and 7 demonstrated thatthe author had developed the typology as a way of providing a more in-depth focuson the motivations behind emotional displays as well as illustrating that peoplemove between different emotional performances and that the boundaries betweenthem are blurred. Chapter 6 focuses on pecuniary and prescriptive emotions,which are developed within the context of organisational feeling rules. The authorargues that most studies of emotional labour do not provide a detailed analysis oforganisational feeling rules and provides a discussion that distinguishes betweenorganisational, commercial and professional feeling rules. Pecuniary and prescrip-tive workplace emotions are discussed as ranging from cynical and compliantperformance of emotions through to sincere displays of emotions. Unlike manystudies that present emotion management from a cynical perspective, the authorhighlights ‘complex motivations which lie behind’ individual emotional perform-

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ances, arguing that ‘organisational life is a combination of compliance, commit-ment and resistance resulting in both sincere and cynical performances’ (p. 130).

This emotional complexity is further explored in chapter 7 in which rules ofsocial interaction in organisations are explored within the framework of presen-tational and philanthropic emotions. This chapter focuses on different ‘spaces’ inorganisations in which individuals can move away from organisational norms andthe view of managers and stakeholders. For example, the author explores space tomisbehave, have ‘a bit of a laugh’ (p. 142), give the ‘gift’ of additional emotionmanagement, as well as additional spaces to illustrate what occurs behind thescenes, or within the back regions of organisations. However, unlike back regionwork, such as that of Goffman (1959) in which individuals can switch theiremotions off, the author argues that even within these spaces individual emotionsare shaped by ‘shared meanings … created by members’ (p. 145). Consequently, akey argument presented in this book is that motivations behind emotional displaysin the workplace are a combination of both organisational feeling rules and rulesof social interaction and that individuals, regardless of their context, are constantlyinvolved in emotion management.

As the author argues in the concluding chapter, her work is not a conclusionto studies of emotion management. However, this book is an essential read foranybody involved in the study of emotions at work as it expands current thinkingon topics of emotional labour and provides a foundation for future emotionmanagement research. This book is also essential reading for those new to the areaof emotion research because of its easy-to-read nature and extensive reviews ofrelevant literature.

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ReferenceGoffman, Erving. 1959. The presentation of self in everyday life. London: Penguin Books.

Melanie Bryant, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia