Orientation and Crafted Bureaucracy

Finding Dignity in Nicaraguan Food Safety

Bibliographic Data

ID2259066
AuthorsAlex Nading (0000-0002-1731-321X, School of Social and Political Science University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH8 9LD United Kingdom, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume119
Issue3
Pages478-490
Publication date2017-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Anthropologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7294 • E-ISSN: 1548-1433
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/aman.12844
OpenAlexW2750126588
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited74

This article explores how food-safety inspectors (hygienistas) in Nicaragua monitor and certify foodservice workers and facilities. While inspectors are well versed in sanitary law, they describe their job not as law enforcement but as "orientation." Orientation integrates state regulation with interpersonal exchanges of gifts and jokes, which reinforce unwritten social norms. Such interpersonal exchanges are not simply signs of corruption or governmental incapacity. Rather, orientation is a form of "crafted bureaucracy": a pragmatic effort to ensure both the quality of food and the quality of governmental encounters. Orientation allows inspectors and food producers to reconcile memories of Nicaragua's revolutionary past with anxieties about the country's more recent integration into a global food economy. While effective surveillance is at stake in orientation, dignity is also at stake. When orientation is successful, the dignity of both bureaucrats and food workers is temporarily affirmed. When orientation fails, their dignity is at risk. [public health, hygiene, medical anthropology, infrastructure, Latin America

Bureaucracy · Business · Dignity · Enforcement · Food safety · Interpersonal communication · Language change · Orientation (vector space · Political science · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · Social science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Medicine · Sex work and related issues · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies