Abstract
In this paper I would like to propose the notion of inter-expressive action, to enable the study of
care work and emotional labor.
Inter-expressive action is defined as human interaction in a face-to-face social relationship through
the mediation of non-verbal expression. Such action assumes, in particular, a characteristic of interSUbjectivity.
By exchanging expressions, we can pick up on the emotions of others, and the SUbjectivity
of each co=unicative partuer can resonate, enabling us to recognize each other not as mere objects but
as human beings with homotypic subjectivity.
The human services of emotional labor and care work above all are accompanied by this interexpressive
action, because the services come into existence in face-to-face social relationships. Indeed,
care workers often say that they gain job satisfaction from seeing the joyful expressions of clients. Also,
a nurse caring for a patient in a vegetative state said in an interview that she had experienced a turning
point in care when she recognized a momentary change in her patient's facial movement as an expressive
signal.
The notion of inter-expressive action might be connected with sociological action theory. Weber,
like Schutz, took some notice of a specific role of expressions in face-to-face relationships. Habermas
insisted that notions of inter-subjective action would be needed for action theory.
I would like to emphasize here that, with the notion of inter-expressive action, we could develop
the argument of emotional labor. The theory of emotional labor as argued by Hochschild failed to study
face-to-face relationships because it implicitly adopted a type of action based on objective-subjective
distinctions. With the notion of inter-expressive action, we can understand that human services involve
simultaneous dual relationships: one is a face-to-face relationship and the other is an anonymous
relationship, such as between a customer and seller.
