Empirical and Ethical Lessons from Empirical Pilferage among Sanitation Workers in Paris
Le Lay, Stéphane
Empirical and Ethical Lessons from Empirical Pilferage among Sanitation Workers in Paris - 2015.
65
This paper discusses the methodological aspects of an experience of participant observation, as it was practiced by the author when, partially incognito, he took a position as a sanitation worker for the city of Paris. Inspired by reflexive ethnography, it seeks to understand the way in which this kind of work was perceived and to explain how the activities it involves have gradually discouraged the participant observer, eventually leading him to leave the field. In particular, the paper focuses on the relationship between physical work, work ethic and sanitary conditions on the workplace as seen from the vantage point of the sociologist. By engaging his subjectivity in a taxing professional situation with which he is not familiar, the sociologist may take a position that facilitates his understanding of specific phenomena (like the practice of “pilferage”), but by doing so in a space from which he is socially and culturally remote, and in dubious ethical conditions, he runs the risk of finding himself incapable of accessing the entire range of resources that allow sanitation workers to put up with their daily activities.
Empirical and Ethical Lessons from Empirical Pilferage among Sanitation Workers in Paris - 2015.
65
This paper discusses the methodological aspects of an experience of participant observation, as it was practiced by the author when, partially incognito, he took a position as a sanitation worker for the city of Paris. Inspired by reflexive ethnography, it seeks to understand the way in which this kind of work was perceived and to explain how the activities it involves have gradually discouraged the participant observer, eventually leading him to leave the field. In particular, the paper focuses on the relationship between physical work, work ethic and sanitary conditions on the workplace as seen from the vantage point of the sociologist. By engaging his subjectivity in a taxing professional situation with which he is not familiar, the sociologist may take a position that facilitates his understanding of specific phenomena (like the practice of “pilferage”), but by doing so in a space from which he is socially and culturally remote, and in dubious ethical conditions, he runs the risk of finding himself incapable of accessing the entire range of resources that allow sanitation workers to put up with their daily activities.
Réseaux sociaux