32

This paper recalls the historical context which led to the creation of the slaughterhouse, and then presents the results of an ethnographic study within a slaughterhouse. From how the actual practice of killing is undertaken, the activity is placed within its setting. The actors obey an implicit code which defines the different categories of individuals in terms of their proximity to the act of killing. The spatial positions during the work refer to moral positions within the group. The “killers” operate and remain, most of the time, in the “killing” area, whereas the “non killers” rarely penetrate into the killing area and stay away from the killers. Observation also reveals that the animal’s treatment during the killing is close to that of an enemy, a point which undermines the dominant supposition that this is objectively nothing more than part of the industrial process of butchering animals.