Abstract
In the space of a decade between the late 1960s and 1970s, coal mines and cotton mills in the U.S. were publicly acknowledged to be dangerous places to work because of the dusts in the air. Respiratory diseases endemic in the two workforces became legally compensable, while major capital investments were made to improve ventilation and make the workplaces safe. This sudden perception of danger in the workplace was supported by the labor movement and activist social reformers, but opposed by major business interests. What accounts for the success of both social constructions of risk in winning official legitimation and in altering the flow of resources in these industries?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alston, Chuck. ‘Cotton Dust Rule May Cut Costs,’ Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News February 11, 1982.
Ashford, Nicholas. Crisis in the Workplace. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1976.
Ball, Richard A. ‘Social Change and Power Structure: An Appalachian Case,’ in John D. Photiadis and Harry K. Schwarzweller (eds.), Change in Rural Appalachia. Implications for Action Programs. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971, 147–165.
Batteau, Allen, ‘Appalachia and the Concept of Culture: A Theory of Shared Misunderstandings,’ Appalachian Journal, Autumn/Winter 1978–1979, 9–31.
Calavita, Kitty. ‘The Demise of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration: A Case Study in Symbolic Action,’ Social Problems, 1983, 30: 437–448.
Cohen, Abner, Two Dimensional Man: An Essay on the Anthropology of Power and Symbolism in Complex Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.
Curran, Daniel J. ‘Symbolic Solutions for Deadly Dilemmas: An Analysis of Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Legislation,’ International Journal of Health Services, 1984, 14, 5–29.
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. New York: Praeger,1966.
Douglas, Mary and Aaron Wildavsky, Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technological and Environmental Dangers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
Edelman, Murray. Politics as Symbolic Action: Mass Arousal and Quiescence. Chicago: Markham Publishing, 1900.
Estes, Carrol and Beverly C. Edmonds, ‘Symbolic Interaction and Social Policy Analysis,’ Symbolic Interaction, 1981, 4, 74–86.
Finch, Robert H. ‘Brown Lung Disease — A Reply from HEW Secretary Finch.’ Congressional Record (House), October 9, 1969, 115; 29383.
Fisher, Stephen L. ‘Victim Blaming in Appalachia: Cultural Theories and the Southern Mountaineer,’ in Bruce Ergood and Bruce E. Kuhre (eds.) Appalachia: Social Context Past and Present. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt, 1976, 139–148.
Fox, Daniel M. and Judith F. Stone. ‘Black Lung, Miners’ Militancy and Medical Uncertainty 1968-1972,’ Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 1980, 54, 43–63.
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books,1973.
Good, Paul. ‘Kentucky’s Coal Beds of Sedition,’ The Nation, September 4, 1967, 201, 166–169.
Gusfield, Joseph R. The Culture of Public Problems. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Hall, Peter M. ‘A Symbolic Interactionist Analysis of Politics,’ Sociological Inquiry, 1972, 42, 35–75.
Hanes, Gordon. ‘Management’s Responsibility for People,’ in David Fraser and Mario Battigelli (eds.). Transactions of the National Conference on Cotton Dust and Health. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina School of Public Health, 1970, 59–61.
Harris, Reginald T., James A. Merchant, Kaye H. Kilburn, and John D. Hamilton. ‘Byssinosis and Respiratory Diseases Among Cotton Mill Workers.’ Journal of Occupational Medicine, 1972, 14, 199–205.
Hewitt, Kenneth. ‘The Idea of Calamity in a Technocratic Age,’ in Kenneth Hewitt (ed.), Interpretations of Calamity from the Viewpoint of Human Ecology. Boston: Allen and Unwin, 1983, 3–32.
Judkins, Bennett M. We Offer Ourselves as Evidence. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1986.
Kerr, Lorin E. ‘The Occupational Pneumoconiosis of Coal Miners as a Public Health Problem,’ Virginia Medical Monthly, 1969, 96, 121–126.
Maines, Donald R. ‘Social Organization and Social Structure in Symbolic Interactionist Thought,’ Annual Review of Sociology, 1977, 3, 235–259.
Marschall, Daniel. ‘The Miners and the UMW,’ Socialist Review, 1978, 8, 65–115.
McCaffrey, David P. OSHA and the Politics of Health Regulation. New York: Plenum Publishing Co., 1982.
McGillicuddy, Robert D. ‘The Legislative History of Black Lung Reform Efforts,’ in House Education and Labor Committee, Black Lung Benefits Reform Act and Black Lung Benefits Review Act of 1977. Committee Print, February 1979.
Meiklejohn, Andrew. ‘History of Lung Disease in Coal Miners: Part III, 1920-1952,’ British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1952, 9, 208–220.
Merry, Sally. Urban Danger: Life in a Neighborhood of Strangers. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981.
Mittleman, Eugene. ‘A Legislative History,’ in National Research Council, Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment. Supplemental Report: Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis - Medical Considerations, Some Social Implications. Washington: National Academy Press, 1976, 95–99.
Nader, Ralph. ‘Brown Lung in the Textile Industry,’ Congressional Record, (House) August 11, 1969, 115; 23117–23118.
O’Leary, John. ‘An Executive Perspective on the Black Lung Compensation Program’ in National Research Council, Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment. Supplemental Report: Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis — Medical Considerations, Some Social Implications. Washington: National Academy Press, 1976, 100–102.
Ortner, Sherry B. ‘Theory in Anthropology Since the Sixties,’ Comparative Studies in Society and History, 1984, 26, 126–166.
Page, Joseph A. and Mary Winn-O’Brien. Bitter Wages. New York: Grossman, 1973.
Plaut, Thomas, ‘Political Alienation and Development: A Perspective from Appalachia,’ in Bruce Ergood and Bruce E. Kuhre. (eds.) Appalachia: Social Context Past and Present. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. 1976, 295–302.
Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer ‘Byssinosis Bill Given Approval.’ Apri128, 1971, 5.
Rosen, George. The History of Miners’ Disease. New York: Shuman’s, 1943.
Schilling, Richard S. F. ‘The History of Byssinosis and the British Experience,’ in David Fraser and Mario Battigelli (eds.), Transactions of the National Conference on Cotton Dust and Health. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina School of Public Health, 1970, 7–12.
Smith, Barbara E. ‘Black Lung: The Social Production of Disease,’ International Journal of Health Services, 1981, 11, 343–359.
Smith, Barbara E. ‘Too Sick to Work, Too Young to Die. An Oral History of the Black Lung Association,’ Southern Exposure, 1984, 12, 19–29.
Stanley (N.C.) News and Press. ‘Cannon Offers Retirees Free Brown Lung Tests,’ May 15, 1979.
Stephenson, William. ‘Administrative Law Problems with Byssinosis,’ Chest, Supp. April 1981, 79, 132S–133S.
Strauss, Anselm. Negotiations: Varieties, Contexts, Processes and Social Order. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978.
U.S. Department of Labor. An Interim Report to Congress on Occupational Disease. Washington: Government Printing Office, June 1980.
U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Labor, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Hearings on the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Part One, Greenville, South Carolina, April 28, 1970. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 D. Reidel Publishing Company
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bronstein, J.M. (1987). The Political Symbolism of Occupational Health Risks. In: Johnson, B.B., Covello, V.T. (eds) The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk. Technology, Risk, and Society, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3395-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3395-8_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8021-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-3395-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive