2022 journal article
Agrochemical Exposure & Environmental Illness: Legal Repression of Latin American Banana Workers
Agrochemical Exposure & Environmental Illness: Legal Repression of Latin American Banana Workers. SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLY, 63(2), 359–378.
author keywords: Social movements; legal repression; legal framing; chemical exposure; environmental illness
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
(OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: January 4, 2021
ABSTRACT Prior research on legal repression shows how elites use criminal law to demobilize collective challenges, yet social control efforts based in civil law have received inadequate attention. In this study, we develop the concept of elite legal framing to examine how corporations deploy “soft” forms of repression within the civil justice system. Drawing on court, government, and media documents, we analyze a series of transnational civil litigation cases over pesticide exposure on Dole-contracted banana plantations in Nicaragua. Results highlight how the corporate defendants promoted a corruption narrative that diffused through the media and legal system to successfully discredit farmworker claims.