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While asbestos has been called a 'miracle substance' because of its unique properties, asbestos has also caused cancer in those exposed to its indestructible fibres. This mix of benefits and costs has made the regulation of asbestos particularly difficult for policymakers; in both countries, regulation has been characterized by exceptional measures. In Canada, regulating asbestos has led to innumerable government studies, including the Ontario Royal Commission on Matters of Health and Safety Arising from the Use of Asbestos (1984). The Commission's Report was unique in its extensive scope and detail. Its three volume report included a detailed treatment of asbestos-related diseases, quantitative risk estimates, and assessments of current regulations. The regulatory history of asbestos in the US was also somewhat exceptional. It involved a protracted battle between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget. Out of this battle came a House Subcommittee investigation into OMB interference in EPA rulemaking (1985). The comprehensiveness of the Royal Commission's Report is highly significant given that detailed scientific explanations of policy, and the criteria used to balance costs and benefits are usually not explicitly revealed by Canadian regulators. In this sense, the somewhat anomalous nature of the Commission's Report offers an especially detailed view of regulating hazardous substances in Canada. Like the Royal Commission Report, the House investigation provides an extraordinarily detailed look at the politics of regulating a hazardous substance. Out of these involved deliberations, though, emerge very different policies on asbestos. While the US has implemented a three-stage ban, Canadian regulators view asbestos primarily as an occupational problem. The workplace standards of the US, Ontario and Quebec differ, with the US being more stringent. The contributions of this paper stem from its balanced consideration of scientific and political determinants and its comparative nature. This balanced consideration illustrates the double impact of science. While science can set the boundaries of a policy debate, uncertain areas of scientific evidence are usually politicized by competing interests. Thus, the less science is certain, the more politics matters. Within the boundaries set by science, various political forces have an impact on the policy process. Policies are shown to emerge from very different interrelationships between state structures and societal actors, influenced by varying degrees of economic dependence on asbestos. Group theory alone fails to explain the divergent policy outcomes; so do neo-Marxist and institutionalist approaches. Thus, this study demonstrates the superiority of integrative approaches, as opposed to those which emphasize one causal variable at the expense of others. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

"October 2008" / Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy, Dept. of Sociology 2009. / Bibliography: leaves 273-293. / Introduction -- Patterns of corporate activity as patterns of corporate dominance: legal, organisational, and economic features of corporations -- Representations of corporate dominance in insidious injuries -- The legal basis of corporate dominance: History of the corporation -- Legal individualism and corporate personhood -- Theories of the corporation -- The legal regulation of corporations - corporate liability laws -- Conclusion. / Corporations are no longer simply a type of business structure; they are dominant social institutions. As institutions, corporations are archetypes of contemporary complex social organisation and should, therefore, be a central concern for sociology. Yet with few notable exceptions, sociologists have failed to address their increasingly dominant position in contemporary societies. In this thesis I argue the importance of a renewed sociological interest in corporations. This must acknowledge, but go beyond, the political-economic outcomes of corporations to address the profound consequences of the legal foundations of the corporate form. Corporations are created and regulated by legal doctrine; it is only with a legal mandate that corporations are able to act as employers, suppliers and investors. On this basis, I claim that any understanding of corporate dominance and its effects must commence with an appreciation of the laws that enable the corporation to exist and operate. -- While contributing significantly to wealth creation, corporate dominance also increases the potential for harm to occur to individuals and communities who fall within a corporation's scope. The contemporary proliferation of industrial illnesses is a prime example of this and is examined through a case study of the operations of an Australian asbestos corporation, James Hardie. This case study is timely and unique in its specification of the link between corporate activity and law in contemporary society. -- I argue that corporate activity such as that in the case study is enhanced and legitimated by the legal description of the corporation that assigns to it the capacities of a human individual through corporate legal personhood. Corporate personhood is examined as an example of the legal individualism endorsed in liberal common law countries. By exploring accounts of corporate structure, decision-making and work processes, I explain how the individualised description of the corporation is at odds with its collective realities; the largest and most successful corporations are collectives of human and monetary resources. -- In light of this, I question the extent to which the effective regulation of corporations can be achieved within existing legal frameworks. Building upon research into workplace health and safety in the United Kingdom, the regulation of workplace deaths in Australia is examined to demonstrate the various approaches to regulating corporations and to identify their shortcomings. This is a striking example of the problems law faces in regulating corporations by virtue of its individualistic design. -- The thesis concludes with an affirmation that sociology needs to grapple with issues of corporate activity and that an understanding of the legal basis of the corporation is the foundation of such studies. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / 295 leaves