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    Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Organization, 23 (3), 2015, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2015 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Organization page: http://org.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/

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‘It’s just a job’: understanding emotion work, de-animalization and the compartmentalization of organized animal slaughter

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‘It’s just a job’: understanding emotion work, de-animalization and the compartmentalization of organized animal slaughter . / Hamilton, Lindsay; McCabe, Darren John.
In: Organization, Vol. 23, No. 3, 05.2016, p. 330-350.

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@article{ded1f8b096a54c62b8f1dd72c6ee6e6f,
title = "{\textquoteleft}It{\textquoteright}s just a job{\textquoteright}: understanding emotion work, de-animalization and the compartmentalization of organized animal slaughter ",
abstract = "This article contributes to an understanding of the nexus between humans and animals by drawing on ethnographic research conducted in a British chicken factory and, more particularly, by exploring the emotional subjectivity of Meat Inspectors employed by the Food Standards Agency to oversee quality, hygiene and consumer safety within this plant. We argue that these Inspectors displayed a complex range of often contradictory emotions from the {\textquoteleft}mechanized{\textquoteright} to the {\textquoteleft}humanized{\textquoteright} and link this, in part, to the technocratic organization of factory work that compartmentalizes and sanitizes slaughter. This serves to de-animalize and commodify certain animals, which fosters an emotional detachment from them. In contrast to research which suggests that emotions switch off and on in a dialectic between violence and non-violence, or that we are living in a post-emotional society, we elucidate the co-existence, fluidity and range of emotions that surface and submerge at work. While contributing to the extant literature on {\textquoteleft}emotionologies{\textquoteright}, we add new insights by considering how emotions play out in relation to animals.",
keywords = "Animals , commodification, emotion, emotionologies, ethnography, Meat Inspectors , slaughterhouse, subjectivity, technology",
author = "Lindsay Hamilton and McCabe, {Darren John}",
note = "The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Organization, 23 (3), 2015, {\textcopyright} SAGE Publications Ltd, 2015 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Organization page: http://org.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/ ",
year = "2016",
month = may,
doi = "10.1177/1350508416629448",
language = "English",
volume = "23",
pages = "330--350",
journal = "Organization",
issn = "1350-5084",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘It’s just a job’

T2 - understanding emotion work, de-animalization and the compartmentalization of organized animal slaughter

AU - Hamilton, Lindsay

AU - McCabe, Darren John

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Organization, 23 (3), 2015, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2015 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Organization page: http://org.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/

PY - 2016/5

Y1 - 2016/5

N2 - This article contributes to an understanding of the nexus between humans and animals by drawing on ethnographic research conducted in a British chicken factory and, more particularly, by exploring the emotional subjectivity of Meat Inspectors employed by the Food Standards Agency to oversee quality, hygiene and consumer safety within this plant. We argue that these Inspectors displayed a complex range of often contradictory emotions from the ‘mechanized’ to the ‘humanized’ and link this, in part, to the technocratic organization of factory work that compartmentalizes and sanitizes slaughter. This serves to de-animalize and commodify certain animals, which fosters an emotional detachment from them. In contrast to research which suggests that emotions switch off and on in a dialectic between violence and non-violence, or that we are living in a post-emotional society, we elucidate the co-existence, fluidity and range of emotions that surface and submerge at work. While contributing to the extant literature on ‘emotionologies’, we add new insights by considering how emotions play out in relation to animals.

AB - This article contributes to an understanding of the nexus between humans and animals by drawing on ethnographic research conducted in a British chicken factory and, more particularly, by exploring the emotional subjectivity of Meat Inspectors employed by the Food Standards Agency to oversee quality, hygiene and consumer safety within this plant. We argue that these Inspectors displayed a complex range of often contradictory emotions from the ‘mechanized’ to the ‘humanized’ and link this, in part, to the technocratic organization of factory work that compartmentalizes and sanitizes slaughter. This serves to de-animalize and commodify certain animals, which fosters an emotional detachment from them. In contrast to research which suggests that emotions switch off and on in a dialectic between violence and non-violence, or that we are living in a post-emotional society, we elucidate the co-existence, fluidity and range of emotions that surface and submerge at work. While contributing to the extant literature on ‘emotionologies’, we add new insights by considering how emotions play out in relation to animals.

KW - Animals

KW - commodification

KW - emotion

KW - emotionologies

KW - ethnography

KW - Meat Inspectors

KW - slaughterhouse

KW - subjectivity

KW - technology

U2 - 10.1177/1350508416629448

DO - 10.1177/1350508416629448

M3 - Journal article

VL - 23

SP - 330

EP - 350

JO - Organization

JF - Organization

SN - 1350-5084

IS - 3

ER -