Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 131, 2002
© 2002 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press
Book Review
Contributions to the History of Occupational and Environmental Prevention. First International Conference on the History of Occupational and Environmental Prevention, Rome, Italy, 4–6 October 1998, Antonio Greco, Sergio Iavicoli, Giovanni Berlinguer (Eds), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1999, Exerpta Medica International Congress Series 1189. ISBN 0-444-50255-6.
This collection of conference papers shows the wide range of historical studies now being undertaken in occupational and environmental health. Writing a review when one was also a participant and contributor can lead to either over- or understatement on the significance of an event, but this conference and its proceedings are certainly a first, both in terms of the diversity of topics covered and some of the common themes. My comments here reflect both the written material and some of the discussions at the conference which are not recorded.
‘History as chaps’ is represented by a medley of biographical presentations. The one which uses textual analysis to identify Ramazzini’s attitudes to prevention in particular demonstrates the place of concept mapping as an analytical tool which could be more widely applied. On policy, ethics and regulations perhaps the most significant is that of Linda Rosenstock from NIOSH, which brings history up to the present by considering the global threats to the use of a science-based approach to risk management and provides just the sort of analytical framework that can help explain current successes and failures in prevention.
Being from Rome, the papers include an account of ‘Prohibitions concerning polluting discharges in Rome’—the Rome of 2000 years ago, where, then as now, neighbours can be a source of risk and irritation! There are several very well constructed social history analyses, e.g. those on the social determinants of silicosis control in Vermont granite workers (who remain the source of much of the dose–response data on silica risks). Some analyses demonstrate that exploitation of workers’ health has always been present—even recently of immigrant Italian workers in Australian asbestos mines and of indigenous Navajo Indians who died in the quest to acquire uranium for the USA’s cold war weapons programmes.
One of the most revealing themes concerns the role of professional and other institutions in prevention. This gave me my main take-away message as an attendee of the meeting. During a discussion on Italian occupational health in the period 1920–40, one speaker praised the creation of a number of professorships in occupational health. The next commented that this was an exercise in bribing the professions so that they would not object to greater exploitation of workers by the fascist regime! Here the ‘let us now praise famous men’ school of history came face to face with the social historian’s approach, where all the players are either puppets on someone else’s strings or represent a class interest. I went to the meeting to praise famous men and came away questioning their motives!
Some of the flavour of this tension can be found by comparing the written contributions and listening to the ‘voices’ behind the contributions, as well as taking them at face value. Another conference in this series took place in Sweden in September 2001, and it was as thought provoking as the one recorded in these proceedings. The team from Milan who edited and prepared this volume have put on record many important contributions to the history of health and disease prevention, and are to be congratulated.
J. T. CARTER
2 Thorngrove Avenue, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3XJ, UK
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