Drug Company Next Door

Pollution, Jobs, and Community Health in Puerto Rico

Häftad, Engelska, 2013

AvAlexa S. Dietrich

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"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 Connecticut The 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.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2013-06-07
Mått152 x 229 x 19 mm
Vikt522 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor251
FörlagNew York University Press
ISBN9780814724736

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Acknowledgments Key Events Timeline for Nocora's Environmental Health List of Acronyms A Note on Pseudonyms Introduction: Understanding PoliticalEcologies of Risk in Puerto Rico Little by Little 1 The Dose Makes the Poison: How Making Drugs Harms Environments and People Progress 2 In the Beginning Was the Corporation: Progress, Pollution, and the Public Trust 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: A Holistic View of Environmental Health Epilogue Appendix Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

"Dietrich presents the story of Nocora (a pseudonym), a municipality in Puerto Rico that has been the recipient of the blessing and curse of having pharmaceutical companies in its backyard." - I. Glasser (Choice) ""Offers a compelling and thought-provoking account of the politics of recognition in Nocorá Puerto Rico, a municipality where the stench of pollution pervades the air, soil, and water. In Nocorá one lives beneath the shadow of one's corporate `neighbors, an imposing complex of pharmaceutical companies that turns a blind eye to the insidious effects of toxic by-products while boasting of their lucrative trade in health elsewhere. Set against the invisibility of chronic suffering, local grassroots activists must always fight to be seen and heard. Here one encounters a lively cast of people who inhabit an environment both tranquil and contaminated. This is a smart and masterful portrayal of the realities of activism and the power of corporate public relations strategies, a convincing ethnography that integrates medical anthropology and political ecology in expert fashion. Every employee of Big Pharma should be required to read this book." - Lesley A. Sharp,Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College "The Drug Company Next Dooris ambitious, successful, closely reasoned, vivid, exciting, enormously distressing, and challenging on a political and theoretical level. Dietrichs writing is so good that I would recommend this book for use at any level of anthropological study, from undergraduate all the way up." (Political and Legal Anthropology Review) "Dietrichs study fruitfully combines the old and the new as a traditional anthropological community study on a cutting-edge topic of profound global significance." (New West Indian Guide)