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The Drug Company Next Door : Pollution, Jobs, and Community Health in Puerto Rico / Alexa S. Dietrich.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : New York University Press, [2013]Copyright date: ©2013Description: 1 online resourceContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780814724996
  • 9780814724644
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 363.731 23
LOC classification:
  • TD428.P54 D54 2016
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Key Events Timeline for Nocorá’s Environmental Health -- List of Acronyms -- A Note on Pseudonyms -- Introduction -- Little by Little -- 1. The Dose Makes the Poison -- Progress -- 2. In the Beginning Was the Corporation -- Playing Politics -- 3. The Rituals and Consequences of Community Politics and Dissent -- Fresh Minds” on Parade -- 4. Environmental Justice Is Not Always Just -- Good Neighbors (A Conversation) -- 5. The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Problem of “Stakeholders” -- “Salud te recomienda” -- 6. Radical Redistributions of Knowledge -- Epilogue -- APPENDIX: Community Opinion Questionnaire -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author
Summary: "This fascinating and most timely criticalmedical anthropology study successfully binds two still emergent areas ofcontemporary anthropological research in the global world: the nature andsignificant impact of multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers on humansocial life everywhere, and the contribution of corporations to the fast-paceddegradation of our life support system, planet Earth. . . . Focusing on apharmaceutically-impacted town on the colonized island of Puerto Rico, Dietrichably demonstrates the value of ethnography carried out in small places inframing the large issues facing humanity."-Merrill Singer, University of ConnecticutThe production of pharmaceuticals is among themost profitable industries on the planet. Drug companies produce chemicalsubstances that can save, extend, or substantially improve the quality of humanlife.However, even as the companiespresent themselves publicly as health and environmental stewards, theirfactories are a significant source of air and water pollution--toxic to peopleand the environment. In Puerto Rico, the pharmaceutical industry is thebackbone of the island’s economy: in one small town alone, there are over adozen drug factories representing five multinationals, the highestconcentration per capita of such factories in the world. It is a place wherethe enforcement of environmental regulations and the public trust they ensureare often violated in the name of economic development.The Drug Company Next Door unites the concerns ofcritical medical anthropology with those of political ecology, investigatingthe multi-faceted role of pharmaceutical corporations as polluters, economicproviders, and social actors. Ratherthan simply demonizing the drug companies, the volume explores the dynamicsinvolved in their interactions with the local community and discusses thestrategies used by both individuals and community groups to deal with the consequencesof pollution.The Drug Company Next Door puts a human face on agrowing set of problems for communities around the world. Accessible and engaging, the book encouragesreaders to think critically about the role of corporations in everyday life,health, and culture.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780814724644

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Key Events Timeline for Nocorá’s Environmental Health -- List of Acronyms -- A Note on Pseudonyms -- Introduction -- Little by Little -- 1. The Dose Makes the Poison -- Progress -- 2. In the Beginning Was the Corporation -- Playing Politics -- 3. The Rituals and Consequences of Community Politics and Dissent -- Fresh Minds” on Parade -- 4. Environmental Justice Is Not Always Just -- Good Neighbors (A Conversation) -- 5. The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Problem of “Stakeholders” -- “Salud te recomienda” -- 6. Radical Redistributions of Knowledge -- Epilogue -- APPENDIX: Community Opinion Questionnaire -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

"This fascinating and most timely criticalmedical anthropology study successfully binds two still emergent areas ofcontemporary anthropological research in the global world: the nature andsignificant impact of multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers on humansocial life everywhere, and the contribution of corporations to the fast-paceddegradation of our life support system, planet Earth. . . . Focusing on apharmaceutically-impacted town on the colonized island of Puerto Rico, Dietrichably demonstrates the value of ethnography carried out in small places inframing the large issues facing humanity."-Merrill Singer, University of ConnecticutThe production of pharmaceuticals is among themost profitable industries on the planet. Drug companies produce chemicalsubstances that can save, extend, or substantially improve the quality of humanlife.However, even as the companiespresent themselves publicly as health and environmental stewards, theirfactories are a significant source of air and water pollution--toxic to peopleand the environment. In Puerto Rico, the pharmaceutical industry is thebackbone of the island’s economy: in one small town alone, there are over adozen drug factories representing five multinationals, the highestconcentration per capita of such factories in the world. It is a place wherethe enforcement of environmental regulations and the public trust they ensureare often violated in the name of economic development.The Drug Company Next Door unites the concerns ofcritical medical anthropology with those of political ecology, investigatingthe multi-faceted role of pharmaceutical corporations as polluters, economicproviders, and social actors. Ratherthan simply demonizing the drug companies, the volume explores the dynamicsinvolved in their interactions with the local community and discusses thestrategies used by both individuals and community groups to deal with the consequencesof pollution.The Drug Company Next Door puts a human face on agrowing set of problems for communities around the world. Accessible and engaging, the book encouragesreaders to think critically about the role of corporations in everyday life,health, and culture.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Mrz 2024)