Disparate Lives, Fractured Mineral: Toxic Displacement in the Global Economy of Asbestos
(2018) HEKM51 20181Human Ecology
- Abstract
- The established scientific reality of asbestos is that (a) asbestos is toxic
at a minuscule dose, and (b) exposure should be avoided whenever
possible, with the evidence expanding almost exponentially over the
past century. The purpose of this research is to explore the historical
and global socio-natural entanglements of the economy of asbestos
and the resulting mechanisms at play to occlude and marginalise the
toxicity and emphasise profitability. Therefore, the aims are threefold.
First, the work will uncover and critically examine (utilising
critical discourse analysis) asbestos product advertisements and
related documents, specifically a selection of Eternit (asbestos-cement)
variants from Skandinaviska Eternit AB in Sweden.... (More) - The established scientific reality of asbestos is that (a) asbestos is toxic
at a minuscule dose, and (b) exposure should be avoided whenever
possible, with the evidence expanding almost exponentially over the
past century. The purpose of this research is to explore the historical
and global socio-natural entanglements of the economy of asbestos
and the resulting mechanisms at play to occlude and marginalise the
toxicity and emphasise profitability. Therefore, the aims are threefold.
First, the work will uncover and critically examine (utilising
critical discourse analysis) asbestos product advertisements and
related documents, specifically a selection of Eternit (asbestos-cement)
variants from Skandinaviska Eternit AB in Sweden. A
secondary goal is to compare the often antithetical stance, evidenced
by their marketing strategies, of the asbestos-cement industry with
those exposed victims confronted with the toxic realities frst hand.
Thirdly, the research will evince the global reach and attendant forms
of environmental, toxic, and entropic displacement of the economy of
asbestos vis-à-vis the omnipresent yet prosaic use of its products.
Finally, these three attritional types of displacement are posited as
prototypical instances of slow violence, extrapolating from an
ecological Marxist framework in dialogue with perspectives in
environmental public health and post-humanism. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8960399
- author
- Surber, Nicholas LU
- supervisor
-
- Alf Hornborg LU
- organization
- course
- HEKM51 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Eternit, economy of asbestos, displacement, abstract space, socio-natural transformation, slow violence, toxicity, environmental public health, ecological Marxism, post-humanism
- language
- English
- id
- 8960399
- date added to LUP
- 2018-12-21 11:02:13
- date last changed
- 2018-12-21 11:02:13
@misc{8960399, abstract = {{The established scientific reality of asbestos is that (a) asbestos is toxic at a minuscule dose, and (b) exposure should be avoided whenever possible, with the evidence expanding almost exponentially over the past century. The purpose of this research is to explore the historical and global socio-natural entanglements of the economy of asbestos and the resulting mechanisms at play to occlude and marginalise the toxicity and emphasise profitability. Therefore, the aims are threefold. First, the work will uncover and critically examine (utilising critical discourse analysis) asbestos product advertisements and related documents, specifically a selection of Eternit (asbestos-cement) variants from Skandinaviska Eternit AB in Sweden. A secondary goal is to compare the often antithetical stance, evidenced by their marketing strategies, of the asbestos-cement industry with those exposed victims confronted with the toxic realities frst hand. Thirdly, the research will evince the global reach and attendant forms of environmental, toxic, and entropic displacement of the economy of asbestos vis-à-vis the omnipresent yet prosaic use of its products. Finally, these three attritional types of displacement are posited as prototypical instances of slow violence, extrapolating from an ecological Marxist framework in dialogue with perspectives in environmental public health and post-humanism.}}, author = {{Surber, Nicholas}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Disparate Lives, Fractured Mineral: Toxic Displacement in the Global Economy of Asbestos}}, year = {{2018}}, }