Bhopal Survivors Movement Research Study
(c) Image courtesy of Maude Dorr.
On 3rd December 1984 toxic gas leaked from a pesticide factory in the central Indian city of Bhopal killing an estimated 8000 people. Since then survivors and their supporters have been conducting a campaign for healthcare economic rehabilitation environmental remediation and compensation justice from the owners of the factory US multinational Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical Company.
The Bhopal Survivors Movement Study conducted research between December 2006 and January 2009. The research was designed in order to maximise the dialogue between survivor-activists in the movement and the researchers who participated in solidarity actions during and beyond the research programme. Interviews were produced using video-dialogue method based on the pedagogical approach of Paulo Freire 1972.
The research team reflected on the dialogues with survivors as well as their own experience of taking solidarity action in order to build sociological knowledge which is relevant to and valuable to the movement campaigning for justice. The research programme was particularly interested in how survivor-activists in the movement many of whom have minimal levels of formal education and are not literate nonetheless engage in sophisticated social and political analysis of major issues of direct relevance to themselves. These issues include globalisation environmental pollution economic exploitation public health campaign tactics and gender dynamics. Moreover the impact of the changing relationships between groups within the movement is explored as strategic alliances are built on the basis of such forms of social solidarity as class consciousness environmental justice and state welfare. The research team comprised Eurig Scandrett Principal Investigator; Public Sociology Queen Margaret University Suroopa Mukherjee Co-investigator; Hindu College Delhi University Tarunima Sen Research Assistant and Dharmesh Shah Research Assistant.
Contact: Eurig Scandrett
Bhopal Survivors Movement Research Study
For information on this research study please use the contact details for Eurig Scandrett.
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