Death by Consensus: The Westray Story

New Solutions, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 14-41, 1993

LABOUR AND WORKING-CLASS HISTORY: A READER, David Frank and Gregory Kealey, eds., Acadiensis Press, 1996

26 Pages Posted: 22 Jul 2011

See all articles by Eric Tucker

Eric Tucker

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School; Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Harry J. Glasbeek

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School

Date Written: 1993

Abstract

The paper will proceed as follows. It tells the Westray story in two parts, first, the decision to set up the mine and, second, the operation of the mine. These events illuminate the salience of the broader political economic context to an understanding of what happened. Further, the story gives the lie to the assumptions which underpin health and safety regulation. Next, the paper details the implications of the political economy and the prevailing ideology for the enforcement of health and safety regulation. The paper then critically examines a component of, or prop for, the consensus theory which postulates that workers and capitalists share, in some roughly comparable way, the risks of production. In part this is done by examining the proposition that the corporate form is a neutral, facilitating device.

Keywords: Westray mine, Westray mine disaster, political context of Westray mine disaster, political economy and Westray Mine

JEL Classification: K31

Suggested Citation

Tucker, Eric and Glasbeek, Harry J., Death by Consensus: The Westray Story (1993). New Solutions, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 14-41, 1993, LABOUR AND WORKING-CLASS HISTORY: A READER, David Frank and Gregory Kealey, eds., Acadiensis Press, 1996, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1890780

Eric Tucker (Contact Author)

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://works.bepress.com/ericm_tucker/

Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law ( email )

2121 Euclid Avenue, LB 138
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
United States

Harry J. Glasbeek

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

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