The drug company next door pollution, jobs, and community health in Puerto Rico
Pollution, jobs, and community health in Puerto Rico
Alexa S. Dietrich.
- xx, 231 pages illustrations 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-223) and index.
Key events timeline for Nocora's environmental health -- Understanding political ecologies of risk in Puerto Rico -- Little by Little. The dose makes the poison: how making drugs harms environments and people. -- Progress. In the beginning was the corporation: progress, pollution, and the public trust. -- Playing Politics. The rituals and consequences of community politics and dissent. -- "Fresh minds" on Parade. Environmental justice is not always just. -- Good Neighbors (a Conversation). The pharmaceutical industry and the problem of "stakeholders". -- "Salud te Recomienda". Radical redistributions of knowledge: a holistic view of environmental health.
The production of pharmaceuticals is among the most profitable industries on the planet. Drug companies produce chemical substances that can save, extend, or substantially improve the quality of human life. However, even as the companies present themselves publicly as health and environmental stewards, their factories are a significant source of air and water pollution, toxic to people and the environment. In Puerto Rico, the pharmaceutical industry is the backbone of the island's economy: in one small town alone, there are over a dozen drug factories representing five multinationals, the highest concentration per capita of such factories in the world. It is a place where the enforcement of environmental regulations and the public trust they ensure are often violated in the name of economic development. This book unites the concerns of critical medical anthropology with those of political ecology, investigating the multi-faceted role of pharmaceutical corporations as polluters, economic providers, and social actors. Rather than simply demonizing the drug companies, the volume explores the dynamics involved in their interactions with the local community and discusses the strategies used by both individuals and community groups to deal with the consequences of pollution. It puts a human face on a growing set of problems for communities around the world. The book encourages readers to think critically about the role of corporations in everyday life, health, and culture. -- Provided by publisher.