SOCIOL 1A06 Lecture Notes - Class Discrimination, Normal Accidents
12 May 2013
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Document Summary
Because of their marginal status: because they lack resources to avoid environmental hazards. Mercury poisoning of the ojibwa: reed plant in dryden ontario dumped tones of mercury in the water. Risk decisions are not based entirely on "objective" technical and scientific criteria but are influenced by sociological factors related to inequality and power. This represents an important addition to public policy debates on the dynamics of risk, which have tended to treat risk allocation as something that takes place outside the normal workings of society . Industrial accidents: rarely caused by one person, caused by a system breaking down, larger systemic factors. What do we know about trends over time in attitudes towards the environment: data through the 1970s and 1990s shows a stable level of concern for the environment. Younger, more highly educated individuals are more likely to express concern about the environment.
