Reputational Labour

Reputation has acquired significant value in many job markets, judging by the growth of individual practices aimed at developing it, mainly through social networking sites. Yet, while a growing number of studies are focusing on the reception of reputation by various audiences, the labour involved in the production of reputation remains largely overlooked. This article examines the production of reputation by analysing five facets of reputational labour. It focuses on the tangible and concrete aspects of reputation building, rather than on its subjective dimension by drawing on a multi-sited ethnography in the USA and Europe, carried out with individuals for whom reputation is of fundamental importance: professional climbers.