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

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Dietrich, Alexa S.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

"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.

Table of 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