Mining Gold and Manufacturing Ignorance
Occupational Lung Disease and the Buying and Selling of Labour in Southern Africa
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Beschreibung
This open access book charts how South Africa’s gold mines have systematically suppressed evidence of hazardous work practices and the risks associated with mining.
For most of the twentieth century, South Africa was the world’s largest producer of gold. Although the country enjoyed a reputation for leading the world in occupational health legislation, the mining companies developed a system of medical surveillance and workers’ compensation which compromised the health of black gold miners, facilitated the spread of tuberculosis, and ravaged the communities and economies of labour-sending states. The culmination of two decades of meticulous archival research, this book exposes the making, contesting, and unravelling of the companies’ capacity to shape – and corrupt – medical knowledge.
This open access book charts how South Africa’s gold mines have systematically suppressed evidence of hazardous work practices and the risks associated with mining.
For most of the twentieth century, South Africa was the world’s largest producer of gold. Although the country enjoyed a reputation for leading the world in occupational health legislation, the mining companies developed a system of medical surveillance and workers’ compensation which compromised the health of black gold miners, facilitated the spread of tuberculosis, and ravaged the communities and economies of labour-sending states. The culmination of two decades of meticulous archival research, this book exposes the making, contesting, and unravelling of the companies’ capacity to shape – and corrupt – medical knowledge.
Makes a key contribution to African history by redefining the place of the gold mining industry in the world economy Charts the making and contesting of the mining companies’ capacity to shape and corrupt medical knowledge Brings together two decades of meticulous archival research This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access
Autor*in
Jock McCulloch
Themen in »Mining Gold and Manufacturing Ignorance«
Goldmining Occupational lung disease Silicosis Tuberculosis Southern Africa Occupational injury African studies Colonialism Racism History of mining Epidemiology Open Access
Stimmen zu »Mining Gold and Manufacturing Ignorance«
This book provides the definitive study of the human costs of the world’s economic “progress” on the backs and lungs of South Africa’s miners. Employing heretofore unused archival sources, it documents the ways in which white mine owners and politicians adopted policies that led to devastating disease and early death for black miners and their families. Importantly, it will help bring crucial information about Occupational and Environmental hazards to workers and communities.
—Gerald Markowitz, Distinguished Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and History, John Jay College and Graduate Center, USA
This highly readable and informative book pulls together an impressive breadth of materials about the exploitation of black gold miners and public health failures, spanning many decades. It is an important book on issues of historical and contemporary significance in Southern Africa, but also in countries such as India, China and Brazil – just toname a few.
—David Rees, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
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