In this post I will be first explaining the field ethics that anthropologist go through when interviewing a person, and I am also going to be exhaling and summarizing chapter two in Arlie Russel Hochschild book Strangers in Their Own Land. Some of the main points in the ethics code are;
- Do Not Harm: I will be following this rule by not showing any of the person I am interviewing personal information. For example, I might say what they do for their career, but won’t say exactly where they work
- Be open and honest about your work: This one is pretty self explanatory, I will be upfront and honest about why I am interviewing them.
- Get consent and permission: For this I will be asking and making sure they are okay with me telling their story, including information, or anything I write about.
- Make sure your work is accessible: I will be doing this by sharing the link of my work with the person I am interviewing.
- Maintain respectful and ethical relationships: I will be nice and respectful with the person I am interviewing and will listen to what they have to say without putting in my opinion.
Throughout chapter two Hochschild is interviewing Lee Sherman on his life, work life, and political views. Sherman was Democratic, but when we moved down south he turned more towards the Republican side. As a child Lee was always a daredevil. He was just one of seven children (which were all boys). When he grew up he got a job at Pittsburgh Plate Glass company, where he was called a mechanical genius. This plant was one of the highest ranked company’s for the most toxic chemical emissions. Sherman was an extremely hard and good worker, and always got his work done, even if he wasn’t wearing the correct safety equipment. One day on the job one of Sherman’s coworkers dropped chemicals on him and it completely burned off his clothes and hurt him pretty badly. At a certain time it got to the point where he could not bend his legs to get up or down and his feet felt like clubs. Due to this he needed medical leave and couldn’t work. Also while working for this job his boss asked him to illegally dump waste into a water system, costing thousands of people their jobs because it turned the water toxic and made the fish and sea creatures unedible. After all of this happened, Lee was fired from his job because of “absenteeism”. Lee was very upset by this considering he still worked very hard every day and was only on medical leave because of the work conditions. After getting fired, Lee Sherman now opposes a big government and supports anybody the supports the enviorment.
After reading this chapter it made me think of three questions to ask the person I’m going to interview;
- How would you react or feel if you got fired for being hurt on the job?
- Do you think your political stand point or view can affect your career or where you work?
- Would you ever stay at a job with terrible work conditions if you were very good at the job?
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