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An essay on ‘health capital’ and the Faustian bargains struck by workers in the globalised shipping industry
Author(s) -
Bloor Michael
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01347.x
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , work (physics) , occupational safety and health , capital (architecture) , perception , sample (material) , sociology , psychology , value (mathematics) , scale (ratio) , social psychology , demographic economics , economics , political science , medicine , law , geography , mechanical engineering , chemistry , cartography , archaeology , chromatography , neuroscience , machine learning , computer science , engineering
It has long been understood that work directly generates ill health and disability through injuries and occupational exposure to toxic and carcinogenic materials, but the more complex relationship between work and ill health that is seemingly mediated through psychological distress is more controversial. For example, the ‘Karasek model’, whereby high job demands coupled with limited latitude in decision making were thought to generate ill health, has not been supported in large‐scale surveys. This paper postulates an alternative linking mechanism between work and health, namely Mildred Blaxter’s concept of ‘health capital’, and specifically explores the value of the concept in understanding lay theorising about the links between labour intensification and self‐perceived health: workers’ perceptions that their work has become more effortful may be bracketed with their belief that their continuing employment is demanding accelerating expenditure of their health capital. The argument is illustrated by qualitative interviews with an international sample of seafarers, a proto‐typically globalised labour force.