Customer Reviews

Advocacy after Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New Global Orders

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Greetings,

I read this book in an upper division Anthropology class titled, Risk, Culture, and Disaster, which was a study on the socially constructed quality of Risk. Overall, I felt that this was a valuable and insightful work. My biggest feeling in reading it was that those that would most benefit from reading it, such as the policy makers for major corporations involved with toxic chemicals, nuclear plant designers, or law enforcement professionals, would never crack the cover.


I have a background in Sociology, and my Anthro colleagues told me that there was a tendency, trend, or movement (not sure which) to craft an ethnography that by its nature invoked the feeling or quality that the researcher experienced. In the case of this work, it comes across as a bit chaotic, and the structure is only part of it. I had some issues in this regard, and felt as though it wasn't as impactful as it had the potential to be. And to qualify that statement, I felt that with some structural work and some more effort at developing her theoretical presentation this could have been a classic, seminal work, so that criticism is probably a bit picky.

I felt that while the book provided a great look at the Bhopal disaster, some of the theorizing felt like it was reaching a bit, and I felt that it fell short.

This work raises some interesting questions about advocacy and anthropology, or advocacy and social science, and is great for a classroom setting, but probably a bit much for a casual read.

I wanted to conclude by saying that the Author expended incredible energy and effort in the experiencing the research as well as putting it together in this book. I am frankly amazed at her dedication, intelligence, and ability. My criticism is brief and meant to be taken along with my 4 star rating: This was an outstanding piece of research and fieldwork coupled with some profound efforts at advocacy. If you are interested in research and advocacy I would even go so far as to say that this is a very important work and should definitely be read before you go off to your site. You will be inspired, possibly intimidated, but it will definitely leave you with much food for thought. I can see Fortun becoming a seminal researcher and writer in this area and if you are a student thinking of this direction you should read more of her work.