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Lost Lives at Westray: Official Discourse, Public Truth and Controversial Death

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

John McMullan
John McMullan
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Criminology, Saint Mary's UniversityHalifax (N.S.) B3H 3C3Canadajohn.mcmullan@smu.ca
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Abstract

This paper examines the role of official inquiry in the context of controversial deaths at a mine explosion in Canada. It documents how medical science and law contributed to the social production of official knowledge about lost lives in the Westray disaster and analyzes the significance of this public truth-telling on the registration of other truth accounts. The paper concludes by considering the counter-memories to official accounts and the role that a formal public inquiry into the disaster played in further transforming the fields of enunciation about the truth of death at Westray.

Résumé

Cet article examine le rôle de l'enquête officielle sur des décès controversés lors de l'explosion dans une mine au Canada. Il documente comment la science médicale et le droit ont contribué à la production sociale des connaissances officielles sur les vies perdues lors de la catastrophe de Westray et analyse la signification de ce conte public de vérité sur l'enregistrement d'autres comptes-rendus de vérités. L'auteur tient aussi compte des contre-mémoires des comptes-rendus officiels et du rôle qu'une enquête publique formelle sur la catastrophe a joué dans la transformation ultérieure des champs d'énonciation atour de la vérité sur les décès à Westray.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , April 2007 , pp. 21 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2007

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