Vulnerability and Industrial Hazards in Industrializing Countries: An Integrative Aproach

• Published in: Futures : the journal of policy, planning and futures studies Vol. 35; no. 7; pp. 717 - 736
• Main Authors: Porto, M. F. de Souza, de Freitas, C M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-09-2003
• Subjects: Accidents; Brazil; Developing Countries; Factories; Hazards; India; Industrialization; Mexico; Risk
• ISSN: 0016-3287
• DOI: 10.1016/S0016-3287(03)00024-7

The extra vulnerability of industrializing countries to environmental problems & industrial accidents cannot be understood or solved by a 'normal' scientific analysis. Aspects of the social & institutional context must be included, through analyses based on post-normal science. The standard two-dimensional classification of PNS is modified to have axes 'social & institutional vulnerabilities' & 'complexity of technological hazards.' The analysis is mainly applied to the case of the relatively rare accidents with catastrophic potential. In these, the deaths per accident in India, Mexico, & Brazil are much greater than in the industrialized countries. This discrepancy arises partly from location of such plants near residential communities for marginalized workers & their families. Other sociopolitical factors are relevant, as the role of these countries in the global production system, the enforcement of safety & planning laws, quality of housing, & lifestyle of residents. Reducing the vulnerability of industrializing countries will therefore require major social policies & a comprehension of the limits of the normal scientific & economic approaches to such problems. 1 Table, 4 Figures, 37 References. Adapted from the source document.