A Trade Like Any Other”? Social and Moral Taint in Animal Dirty Work

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12418602
AutoresGabriela Jarzebowska (0000-0001-9678-2163, Department of Liberal Arts, University of Warsaw https://dx.doi.org/49605 Warsaw Poland, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume33
Fascículo7-8
Páginas779-796
Data de publicação2024-04-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSociety and Animals (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306
EditoraBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15685306-bja10195
OpenAlexW4394961450
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas29

This article analyzes the discursive practices related to the professional identity of rat exterminators. I build on the framework of “dirty work” to demonstrate that social and moral taint are central elements in the narrativization of these identities. The study reveals that this identity is constructed on two levels: social, which designates identity built in opposition to the perceived negative social reception, and individual, the “internal” work of facing the ethical challenges associated with the profession, especially with killing animals. These two levels of identity work have a common core, which is a belief in the social utility of extermination work. Based on interviews, I identify four strategies used to rationalize eradication of rodents

Aesthetics · Identity (music · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Social group · Social identity theory · Sociology · Work (physics · Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies · Animal testing and alternatives · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology