In: Administrative science quarterly: ASQ ; dedicated to advancing the understanding of administration through empirical investigation and theoretical analysis, Band 36, Heft 3, S. 459
The industrial accident in Bhopal, India, in which a Union Carbide fertilizer plant spewed a poisonous gas (either methyl isocyanate or phozgene) over a thickly populated part of the city (population 700,000) in Dec 1984 killing 2,250+ people & affecting 200,000 others with chronic health problems, continues to be a unique tangle of legal, scientific, & historical-cultural considerations. Since the disaster, a dichotomy between the "inside" (India, the state of Madhya Pradesh, & the people of Bhopal) & the "outside" (US business interests & Western science & technology) has framed the perception of the event in India. US & Indian responses are detailed, & it is argued that a careful reading of the situating forces is essential for the proper analysis & explanation of the industrial accident. Action-neutralizing forces, such as clashing legal cultures, warped technology transfer, & low accountability, are examined, & it is stated that nothing substantial has transpired to aid those suffering in Bhopal. It is concluded that such technological disasters provide evidence that modern man has yet to learn how to make technological power coexist with moral responsibility & long-range human & environmental survival. 2 Photographs. F. S. J. Ledgister
A review essay on books by: Stuart L. Hills (Ed), (Corporate Violence: Injury and Death for Profit, Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield, 1987); & Francis T. Cullen, William J. Maakestad, & Gray Cavender, (Corporate Crime under Attack: The Ford Pinto Case and Beyond, Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson, 1987 [see listings in IRPS No. 53]). These works address corporate crime & damage caused by corporate irresponsibility, & discuss social movements in the US opposed to corporate wrongdoing. Cullen et al argue that criminologists have played a major role in the social movement against white-collar crime, while Hill contends that criminologists need to extend their involvement. Hills also describes corporate offenses & heightens awareness of the harm caused by the illegal actions of US business executives. Cullen et al analyze the process of criminalization with regard to corporate crime, & assess efforts of social control directed at corporate offenders. 18 References. F. S. J. Ledgister