IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v36y2022i5p858-874.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Tallberg

    (Hanken School of Economics, Finland)

  • Peter J Jordan

    (Griffith University, Australia)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Tallberg & Peter J Jordan, 2022. "Killing Them ‘Softly’ (!): Exploring Work Experiences in Care-Based Animal Dirty Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(5), pages 858-874, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:36:y:2022:i:5:p:858-874
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170211008715
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170211008715
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170211008715?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:36:y:2022:i:5:p:858-874. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.