Gender, Class and Indigeneity: Structural Determinants of Exposure to the ‘Devil’s Dust’

The Devil’s Dust is a film that portrays the dangers of asbestos as well as the structural determinants of exposure. James Hardie, a multi-national company, explicitly ignores the dangers of asbestos while actively playing a role in the deaths of thousands of people. Through deception, scandal, capitalistic ownership, control, and social irresponsibility, James Hardie’s tactics can be attributed to a variety of western ideologies that permeate the themes represented in the film as well as Australian society in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The ways in which gender, social class, and indigeneity influence the protagonists’ exposure to asbestos are multi-faceted and have many implications regarding social theory and social irresponsibility.

First of all, according to Karl Marx, ownership over means of production (capital vs proletariat) is a major source of conflict and forced inscription, which often results in losers and winners in addition to societal alienation in a capitalistic society (Bose 1971). When the owning class controls the economic well-being of an uneducated underclass, any means of fighting the control of the bourgeoisie and preventing the deaths of thousands of innocent, hard-working people can be unrealistic, ineffective and disastrous. This is exemplified when Mr. Peacock, the rogue reporter attempting to expose and condemn the James Hardie corporation for actively allowing the deaths of thousands of factory workers and miners, is ineffective regardless of the time and effort he put into the project to expose the truth. This is also exemplified in Bernie’s failed attempt to organize a strike against the factory that actively keeps men employed when the men themselves have no idea what they are being exposed to and ‘don’t really care about the dirty floors’ if it means putting food on the table for themselves and their families (Hobbs 2012). The feelings of powerlessness result in apathy when it comes to their health because, for many of these men, standing up to management could result in joblessness and homelessness if they were to strike without pay. Therefore, structural forces are larger and more powerful than the collective forces when they have no means to fight or fend for themselves without the employment that the capital has given them.

Additionally, gender definitely played a role in determining exposure to asbestos. Men by-and-large were exposed to asbestos far more than women due to the nature of the work in the asbestos industry. In Australia the deadliest industries in terms of fatalities today are agriculture, forestry, and construction (Schofield 2005). This must not have been much different during the reign of the asbestos industry. Since most workplace deaths occur in industries that involve hazardous manual labor and extreme working conditions, and since male gender roles in western society are linked to manual work and conceptions of masculinity, men die far more often than women due to workplace injuries and illnesses (Schofield 2005). Additionally, alluding back to the structural determinants of social status described by Marx, workplace dynamics take the shape of a hierarchy that emphasizes a disconnect between those who do the work for paid labor and those that create and control the means of production through their investments (Schofield 2005). This contributes to the fact that men, whom in this instance are often uneducated and being paid for dangerous manual labor, are disconnected and incorrectly represented when it comes to their own well-being in positions such as the asbestos industry. 

So far is has been discussed that men were far more exposed to the dangers of asbestos due to their ascribed gender roles as well as to the structural determinants that exposed them to this dangerous work. However, with regards to indigeneity, the script switches. Mr. Peacock, the rogue reporter, visits the town of Baryulgil in which he sees an entirely indigenous population working in the asbestos mines where there is absolutely no control over sanitization and no regulatory measures to protect the workers. Additionally, he observes children playing in asbestos and on asbestos piles. The people of Baryulgil had never been informed of the dangers of asbestos, were dying extremely young, and had absolutely no control over their healthcare. James Hardie controlled the healthcare system, funded their healthcare (or lack thereof) and destroyed their medical records, actively concealing and burying the ‘liability’ of the indigenous miners and inhabitants of Baryulgil. In fact, it is now known that, today, Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related illnesses, and the operation of the white asbestos mine at Baryulgil in New South Wales caused extreme amounts of morbidity and mortality among the aboriginal population inhabiting the town (Moerman, Van de Laan, 2011). Why did this happen? Lee C. Moerman and Sandra van der Laan document the history of paternalistic state policies that directly affected the asbestos mining industry and the Indigenous community at Baryulgil while demonstrating that the Baryulgil case exemplified the ways in which human rights are violated due to paternalistic attitudes towards the Indigenous population (2011).  

While this world continues to experience the continued conservatism and cover-ups of human suffering that occurs worldwide, scholars acknowledge that these realities cannot continue to go on ignored. Policy-makers and decision makers cannot ignore these realities that are exemplified by the film The Devil’s Dust which demonstrates the structural forces that contribute to gender, class and ethnic divisions and incidental occurrences of human suffering. Ongoing hegemony and economic and political conservatism and paternalistic ideology continue to cause ignorance on many fronts (Castree 1999). These fronts include the fact that social class is reproduced, men suffer greater morbidity and mortality in the workplace due to the nature of the work that society inscribes upon them, and certain ethnic populations are at risk of being exploited. The Devil’s Dust represents a fine cinematic example of structural forces still occurring today.

References

Bose, A. (1971). Marx on Value, Capital, and Exploitation. History of Political Economy, 3(2), 298-334.

Castree, N. (1999). Envisioning Capitalism: Geography and the Renewal of Marxian Political Economy. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 24(2), 137-158.

Hobbs, J. (Director). (2012). Devil's Dust [Motion picture on DVD]. Australia.

Moerman, L. C., & Van der Laan, S. L. (2011). Accountability, asbestos and indigenous rights: The case of Baryulgil. Accounting History, 16(4), 439-457.

Schofield, T. (2005). Workplace Health (J. Germov, Ed.). In Second opinion: An introduction to health sociology. South Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Oxford University Press.