Review of the Book: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime and the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998). Conclusions, notes, introduction, preface ISBN 1-85521-950-6 [372 pp. Hardbound $72.00 Old Post Road, Brookfield, VT 05036.

Gatmaitan, Jonathan

English

UNH Scholars' Repository

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)Volume 10 | Number 1 Article 10January 1999Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, ToxicCapitalism: Corporate Crime and the ChemicalIndustry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998)Jonathan GatmaitanFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/riskPart of the Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Chemical EngineeringCommons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, and the Work, Economy andOrganizations CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New HampshireScholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University ofNew Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.Repository CitationJonathan Gatmaitan, Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime and the Chemical Industry (DartmouthPublishing Co. 1998), 10 RISK 93 (1999).Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: CorporateCrime and the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998)ErratumThe citation for this review is 10 RISK 89 (1999) in most commercial databases.This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol10/iss1/10iiook _ievews 93Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime andthe Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998). Conclusions,notes, introduction, preface ISBN 1-85521-950-6 [372 pp. Hardbound $72.00 OldPost Road, Brookfield, VT 05036.]Toxic Capitalism discusses socio-economic and legal forces thatunderlay the existence and operation of corporations in the chemicalindustry with an emphasis on corporate ideologies. The book is heavilyannotated and includes a lengthy bibliography.Pearce and Tombs use a socio-economic and political analysis tosensitize readers to corporate crime in the chemical industry. Theyfocus on the 1984 Bhopal tragedy as a concrete example of an eventthat has continuing global ramifications in the context of environmentaland 6ccupational health and safety. They limit their discussion to theU.S. and British environment. Key issues are the nature ofcontemporary corporate organizations, corporate crime and theregulation of corporations.In the first three chapters, the authors elaborate on the nature ofcontemporary capitalism and the stucture of corporations. Capitalisteconomies are examined under neoliberal versions of society, state, andeconomy. They argue that neoliberal interpretation obscures more thanit reveals. Furthermore, society, state and economy must be viewed inthe context of an attempt to construct a new capitalist hegemony.The book then proceeds to examine the nature of corporate crime,through reference to the structure, functions and activities of capitalistcorporations. The book has an interesting section called, Corporationsas Legally Privileged Criminals, which discusses how corporationsshare only some attributes of natural persons.Pearce and Tombs investigate the causes of occupational accidentsand recognize two levels of causation: a first order cause (plant design,resourcing communication) and a second order cause (underlyingprocess where safety is compromised in pursuit of profit andgovernment passivity). The authors point out that injury and deaths aremore aptly viewed as safety crimes rather than mere "accidents" anddistinguish the different treatment between "street" offenders andcorporate offenders. Their final three chapters review the forms of10 Risk. Health, Safety & Enviromnent 89 [Winter 1999]external regulation and categorize these as neoliberal and social liberal.They strongly advocate criminalization of safety crimes and suggest amore punitive regulatory approach based upon deterrence andrehabilitation.One interesting observation raised by the authors is that thechemical industry, being highly automated, would be expected to haverather low accident rates. With recent technological advances, workersare less likely to experience a traditional industrial accident, such as afall, severed limb or an injured back. The authors point out that the realproblem is not traumatic injury, but the likelihood of illness caused bychronic exposure to hazardous levels of toxic substances, a type ofexposure not reflected accurately in current measurement.The book has some shortcomings. The authors' extensive use ofsocio-economic jargon (i.e. hegemony, bourgeois and discourse) willslow those who are unfamiliar with the language of economics. At timesthe writing comes across as dry and academic, especially in the firsthalf. The inclusion of numerous quotes and citations sets a monotonoustone. However, the second half of the book comes alive when thediscussion examines six U.K. chemical companies and the Bhopalincident.The authors are quick to point out that corporations and corporateplayers consistently avoid responsibility for incidents of illness or injury.They label corporations as aristocrats, with the pursuit of money as theironly objective. Although there is mention of marginal progress in"social responsibility", the authors would have painted a more balancedpicture if more credit had been given to those companies that areproactive and take expensive risks in order to advance corporateenvironmentalism.Jonathan Gatmaitantt Mr. Gatmaitan is a 1999 J.D. candidate at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He holdsan M.B.A. (Business Management) from the University of Dallas and a B.A.(Interdisciplinary Studies) from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.

Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime and the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998)

University of New Hampshire

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)
Volume 10 | Number 1 Article 10
January 1999
Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic
Capitalism: Corporate Crime and the Chemical
Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998)
Jonathan Gatmaitan
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/risk
Part of the Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Chemical Engineering
Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, and the Work, Economy and
Organizations Commons
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New Hampshire
Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University of
New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.
Repository Citation
Jonathan Gatmaitan, Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime and the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth
Publishing Co. 1998), 10 RISK 93 (1999).
Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate
Crime and the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998)
Erratum
The citation for this review is 10 RISK 89 (1999) in most commercial databases.
This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol10/iss1/10
iiook _ievews 93
Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime and
the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998). Conclusions,
notes, introduction, preface ISBN 1-85521-950-6 [372 pp. Hardbound $72.00 Old
Post Road, Brookfield, VT 05036.]
Toxic Capitalism discusses socio-economic and legal forces that
underlay the existence and operation of corporations in the chemical
industry with an emphasis on corporate ideologies. The book is heavily
annotated and includes a lengthy bibliography.
Pearce and Tombs use a socio-economic and political analysis to
sensitize readers to corporate crime in the chemical industry. They
focus on the 1984 Bhopal tragedy as a concrete example of an event
that has continuing global ramifications in the context of environmental
and 6ccupational health and safety. They limit their discussion to the
U.S. and British environment. Key issues are the nature of
contemporary corporate organizations, corporate crime and the
regulation of corporations.
In the first three chapters, the authors elaborate on the nature of
contemporary capitalism and the stucture of corporations. Capitalist
economies are examined under neoliberal versions of society, state, and
economy. They argue that neoliberal interpretation obscures more than
it reveals. Furthermore, society, state and economy must be viewed in
the context of an attempt to construct a new capitalist hegemony.
The book then proceeds to examine the nature of corporate crime,
through reference to the structure, functions and activities of capitalist
corporations. The book has an interesting section called, Corporations
as Legally Privileged Criminals, which discusses how corporations
share only some attributes of natural persons.
Pearce and Tombs investigate the causes of occupational accidents
and recognize two levels of causation: a first order cause (plant design,
resourcing communication) and a second order cause (underlying
process where safety is compromised in pursuit of profit and
government passivity). The authors point out that injury and deaths are
more aptly viewed as safety crimes rather than mere "accidents" and
distinguish the different treatment between "street" offenders and
corporate offenders. Their final three chapters review the forms of
10 Risk. Health, Safety & Enviromnent 89 [Winter 1999]
external regulation and categorize these as neoliberal and social liberal.
They strongly advocate criminalization of safety crimes and suggest a
more punitive regulatory approach based upon deterrence and
rehabilitation.
One interesting observation raised by the authors is that the
chemical industry, being highly automated, would be expected to have
rather low accident rates. With recent technological advances, workers
are less likely to experience a traditional industrial accident, such as a
fall, severed limb or an injured back. The authors point out that the real
problem is not traumatic injury, but the likelihood of illness caused by
chronic exposure to hazardous levels of toxic substances, a type of
exposure not reflected accurately in current measurement.
The book has some shortcomings. The authors' extensive use of
socio-economic jargon (i.e. hegemony, bourgeois and discourse) will
slow those who are unfamiliar with the language of economics. At times
the writing comes across as dry and academic, especially in the first
half. The inclusion of numerous quotes and citations sets a monotonous
tone. However, the second half of the book comes alive when the
discussion examines six U.K. chemical companies and the Bhopal
incident.
The authors are quick to point out that corporations and corporate
players consistently avoid responsibility for incidents of illness or injury.
They label corporations as aristocrats, with the pursuit of money as their
only objective. Although there is mention of marginal progress in
"social responsibility", the authors would have painted a more balanced
picture if more credit had been given to those companies that are
proactive and take expensive risks in order to advance corporate
environmentalism.
Jonathan Gatmaitant
t Mr. Gatmaitan is a 1999 J.D. candidate at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He holds
an M.B.A. (Business Management) from the University of Dallas and a B.A.
(Interdisciplinary Studies) from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.


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Review of: Frank Pearce & Steve Tombs, Toxic Capitalism: Corporate Crime and the Chemical Industry (Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1998)

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