Killing Them ‘Softly’ (!): Exploring Work Experiences in Care-Based Animal Dirty Work

Linda Tallberg and Peter J Jordan
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Linda Tallberg: Hanken School of Economics, Finland
Peter J Jordan: Griffith University, Australia

Work, Employment & Society, 2022, vol. 36, issue 5, 858-874

Abstract: Working with animals is a daily occurrence for millions of people who often complete tasks which are tainted, in spite of the work being seen as essential in modern society. Animal shelter-work is such an occupation. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of the caring–killing paradox (a dissonance that workers face when killing animals they are also caring for), through an insider ethnographic study. We find that care-based animal dirty work consists of unique ambiguities and tensions related to powerlessness, deception and secrecy in the work based on a ‘processing-plant’ framework which informs how workers deal with unwanted animals. We find competing ideologies of care and control to be foundational in this work.

Keywords: animal dirty work; autoethnography; caring–killing paradox; dissonance; emotions; human–animal work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:36:y:2022:i:5:p:858-874

DOI: 10.1177/09500170211008715

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