This work seeks to expand understandings regarding the impact of occupational illnesses and injuries on development. It identifies a marked lack of attention to the safety of workplaces in international policy, which belies the importance of occupational health concerns in creating sustainable and effective development policies. Using a materialist epidemiological framework of analysis, I argue that traditional development paradigms have failed to take into account the importance of quality of employment when determining policies for and in the Global South. The case study of the asbestos industry in Brazil is provided to illustrate the physiological, political, and socioeconomic effects that occupational illnesses may have in society. By examining how family members are affected by their interactions with the Brazilian asbestos industry in those three areas, I identify a far-reaching and under-examined burden created by the presence of unsafe workplaces. I conclude that development policies that ignore occupational health concerns ultimately serve to perpetuate structured social and economic inequalities and contribute to ongoing poverty in the Global South. Significant theoretical and practical re-orientations by both policy-makers and researchers are needed if meaningful improvements in development policy are to occur that take into account the importance of workplace quality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:AEU.10048/915 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Sentes, Kyla Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Fudson, Fred (Political Science), Kipp, Walter (Public Health Sciences), Beach, Jeremy (Public Health Sciences), Abu-Laban, Yasmeen (Political Science), Lippel, Katherine (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Civil Law), Kaler, Amy (Sociology) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 19941107 bytes, application/pdf |
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