Emotional dimensions of dirty work: men's encounter with taint in the butcher trade

Abstract

This paper sets out to explore the emotional dimensions of dirty work. In particular, through a study of the meat trade, it investigates how butchers draw on and activate emotions in managing the 'dirtiness' of the job. It demonstrates the significance of often conflicting emotions of disgust, shame, pleasure and pride. Further, in the context of recent 'cleansing' and regulation of the trade, we highlight how nostalgia marks men's responses to how the work is experienced. We draw on Bourdieu's (1977, 1990) notion of habitus to make sense of some of these dynamics and argue that an understanding of emotions within dirty work must be framed within a specific set of class and gender relations.