Emma Whelan

Putting Pain to Paper: Endometriosis and the Documentation of Suffering

Although the elusive and subjective nature of pain has been examined in compelling ways in health studies, the implications for systems of pain documentation and measurement remain relatively unexplored. Two systems for the documentation of pain symptoms in women with endometriosis are examined, one developed by a gynaecological association and the other by a woman with the disease. All pain documentation systems must contend with a fundamental problem: that they permit the comparison only of accounts of pain, not of pains themselves. These two instruments shift attention away from the pain itself to evaluations of the perspectives of those accounting for and evaluating pain. It is argued that systems of pain measurement and documentation, rather than offering objective readings of pain, must be seen as the products of epistemological communities with particular interests, aims and methods which affect the construction of pain and its subjects.

Working up a lather: the rise (and fall?) of hand hygiene in Canadian newspapers, 1986–2015

Abstract Hand hygiene is a long-standing concern in the health sciences literature, but its emergence as a public health issue in the news is a more recent development. Drawing on Alan Hunt’s work on moral regulation and responsibilization, this article analyses 30 years of Canadian newspaper coverage of hand hygiene. Concerns associated with hand hygiene and trends in coverage were identified in a sample of 518 articles, published between 1986 and 2015. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and H1N1 influenza epidemics emerged as important triggers, healthcare-associated infection (HAI) was the dominant trigger for hand hygiene coverage. The articles tend to present hand hygiene as a unidimensional approach to infection control. They tend to responsibilize individuals–first members of the general public, then healthcare providers and increasingly patients–for managing the risk of infection, rather than focus upon social, cultural, political and economic factors that would promote a more broad-based and structural response to HAI.

Learning disabled students and access to accommodations: socioeconomic status, capital, and stigma

Abstract In the 1990s, Canadian universities began implementing policies to accommodate learning disabled students. While such policies appear to make post-secondary education more accessible, students must manage considerable complexity and absorb social and financial costs to receive accommodations. Through interviews with learning disabled students, this research explores the effects of socio-economic status (SES) on how, or whether, students access accommodations at a Nova Scotian university. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu and Goffman, this study suggests that SES affects students’ abilities to navigate the accommodation process successfully, and that accommodation policies, while important, may not ensure equal access to accommodations.

The Fibromyalgia Story: Medical Authority & Women's Worlds of Pain

dent-inducing court victories or legislation, there has been a growing field of legal services and support available to EJ communities. EJ has become recognized to some degree in U.S. national-level policy (and in some states), but whether this aids activists in a specific struggle depends on the particular administration. The EJM has developed a cogent framing of issues which has helped to mobilize resources and activists; however, the current EJ frame may be overly expansive, diluting its utility. Although tension still exists between the mainstream environmental movement and the EJM, the former has increasingly adopted EJ issues. The EJM has developed fruitful collaborations with other organizations and has strong cross-national connections. Many EJ organizations have successfully worked with academics and scientific researchers; however, some of these collaborative efforts have been less than equitable, leaving communities and EJ activists feeling patronized and largely ignored. Ironically, EJ activists in developing nations complain that EJ activists from the “Global North” can be similarly patronizing. Various authors note important contradictions between the message of the EJM and its actual practice. While EJ organizations in the U.S. are perceived as being highly democratic, grassroots efforts, analysis of their governance structures reveals that this may not be the case, possibly reducing their effectiveness and legitimacy. Several authors note that the EJM needs to focus more heavily upon the structural underpinnings of injustice and to look at all forms of social inequity, not just race (which has dominated much of the U.S. EJM). They also note that the movement’s penchant for discussing “inequitable distribution” implies an end goal of equitably distributed risks rather than, more importantly, the reduction or elimination of risks altogether. Given the recognized growth of environmental and social inequities, they argue that the movement needs to progress from an emphasis on problem identification to one of problem solution, i.e., the creation of sustainable and equitable communities. However, as noted in one of the case studies, this may not always be possible: economic justice and environmental sustainability are not necessarily compatible goals. Certainly, some characterizations of the EJM in this book are likely to be disputed. Likewise, some of the authors provide arguable portrayals of the mainstream environmental movement. Even so, this book is a welcome addition to the literature of EJ and the EJM. It would be useful as a supplementary text in graduate courses in social movements and environmental sociology. It provides critical insights of the EJM that would benefit scholars, activists, and policymakers.