Faculty Workshop – Sahar Akhtar (Georgetown) “Cruel Work”

Summary: This paper brings attention to a morally important aspect of work in numerous industries that has received virtually no attention.  This is that certain work requires cruelty on a regular basis, not as occasional occurrences, but as part and parcel of the work entailed—or so I will argue.  While the issue might apply, to varying extents, to jobs in different fields, it seems the most widespread and routine in industries relying on non-human animals for their products and services; to generate these, workers are frequently required to cause the animals substantial pain and distress.  This includes many jobs in medical and cosmetic research on animals, the manufacturing of fur, leather, wool, and down, zoos, pet-breeding, animal sporting and entertainment, the production of fish and many other sea animals, and the production of land-animal foods, including dairy, eggs, and meat.