Paper short abstract:

A presentation of the results of an ethnographic study on the commodification of workers in the Florida Food industry and their reactions to consensual servitude; an exploration on command structure and kinship relations shaped through economic transactions and corresponding patterns of reciprocity.

Paper long abstract:

The following paper is based on research on the commodification of workers in the Florida Food Industry. It provides a detailed explanation on the impact of consensual servitude on employees in our modern world and explores the daily transformation from human to a commodity available purely for exchange. Priced humanity; in a system of reciprocity based on a foundation of consensual servitude. Ethnographic research was collected, in the form of interviews with employees of varying positions and at varying locations. In addition participants were observed in their work environment through personal employment. The structure of a kinship society based in employment relations and its motives for obedience were discovered. Within this research paper the oral histories of employees- ghosts of the food industry and its current members- have been collected. Through content analysis, the underlying power structures and social boundaries were revealed, which informed an understanding of the unconscious behaviors of both consumers and employees. These observations resulted in new consideration of the foundation of Food Industry employment; uneven reciprocity based in consensual servitude.