“How may I serve you”? A live chat with call centre workers in Pakistan
“How may I serve you” is an ongoing exploration into invisible labour by artist José Garcia Oliva in collaboration with two call centre workers living in Pakistan - Saadia and Malik. In this session, TWT festival-goers will first be introduced to the the topic of international and invisible labour by political economist Ashok Kumar. This will be followed by an open and informal chat in which attendees are invited to ask Saadia and Malik questions about their work, lives, hopes and dreams, and everything in-between.
“How may I serve you” (https://howmayiserveyou.co.uk/) was initially imagined and produced by artist Jose Garcia Oliva
Malik has a Masters in Management, and has been associated with the Call Center industry for the last 16 years. He started as an initial level position (agent) in a Telecom call center, became Team Leader, Floor Supervisor, Floor Manager and then finally Head of Call center operations. He has worked with Brighterlite Norway, Ufone, Jazz and UK, USA based clients i.e. US Mobiles, Radio Cab etc.
Ashok Kumar is a lecturer in International Political Economy at Birkbeck in London. He is the author of upcoming book Monopsony Capitalism: Power and Production in the Twilight of the Sweatshop Age.
Saadia postgraduated in sociology and is working as a customer care representative in an outsourced call center, providing services to clients in USA and UK and some Pakistani companies.
Bosses beware, workers unite!
12:30pm–2PM (GMT+1)
6:30pm–8:30pm (GMT+1)
6PM–8PM (GMT+1)
8PM–10PM (GMT+1)
