Premji S. Discourse on culture in research on immigrant and migrant workers' health.
Am J Ind Med 2019;
62:460-470. [PMID:
31111524 DOI:
10.1002/ajim.22987]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 04/23/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Health and safety researchers and practitioners have proposed that cultural differences help explain inequalities between foreign and native-born workers. While cultural explanations for inequalities have long been debated in other fields, there exists little critique of cultural discourses in occupational health.
METHODS
This article examines and discusses the discourse on culture in 107 articles on immigrant or migrant workers' health published between 2011 and 2015. For each article, passages on culture were identified and analysed for both the context and the manner in which culture was discussed.
RESULTS
The discourse on culture was found to be generally simplistic, individualistic, and uncritical, intentionally or unintentionally supporting the worldview that workers' "otherness" is both cause of inequalities and target for interventions.
CONCLUSION
The article argues that empirical, theoretical and interdisciplinary work is needed to document the mechanisms and pathways that underlie health and safety inequalities by foreign-born status.
Collapse