Grassroots Literacy and the Written Record
STUDIES IN KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND PARTICIPATION
Series Editors : Mary Jane Curry , University of Rochester, USA and Theresa Lillis , The Open University, UK
Questions about the relationships among language and other semiotic resources (such as image, film/video, sound) and knowledge production, participation and distribution are increasingly coming to the fore in the context of debates about globalization, multilingualism and new technologies. Much of the existing work published on knowledge production has focused on formal academic/scientific knowledge; this knowledge is beginning to be produced and communicated via a much wider range of genres, modes and media including, for example, blogs, wikis and Twitter feeds, which have created new ways of producing and communicating knowledge, as well as opening up new ways of participating. Fast-moving shifts in these domains prompt the need for this series which aims to explore facets of knowledge production including: what is counted as knowledge; how it is recognized and rewarded; and who has access to producing, distributing and using knowledge(s). One of the key aims of the series is to include work by scholars located outside the centre, and to include work written in innovative styles and formats.
All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed.
Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 3134 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.
Editorial Board
Jannis Androutsopoulos, University of Hamburg, Germany
Karen Bennett, Universidade Nova, Portugal
Jan Blommaert, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
Rebecca Black, University of California, USA
Sally Burgess , Universidad de La Laguna, Spain
Paula Carlino, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Christine Casanave, Temple University, USA
Christiane Donohue, Dartmouth College, USA
Guillaume Gentil, Carleton University, Canada
Bruce Horner, University of Louisville, USA
Dawang Huang, University of Ningbo, China
Luisa Martn Rojo, Universidad Autonoma, Spain
Carolyn McKinney, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Franoise Salager-Meyer, Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela
Elana Shohamy, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Sue Starfield, University of New South Wales, Australia
Brian Street, Kings College London, United Kingdom
Christine Tardy, Arizona State University, USA
Lucia Thesen, University of Cape Town, South Africa
STUDIES IN KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND PARTICIPATION: 2
Grassroots Literacy and the Written Record
A Textual History of Asbestos Activism in South Africa
John Trimbur
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Bristol Blue Ridge Summit
DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/TRIMBU6805
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Names: Trimbur, John, author.
Title: Grassroots Literacy and the Written Record: A Textual History of
Asbestos Activism in South Africa/John Trimbur.
Description: Bristol, UK ; Blue Ridge Summit, PA : Multilingual Matters, 2020. | Series: Studies in Knowledge Production and Participation: 2 |
Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: This book
examines how asbestos activists living in remote rural villages in South
Africa activated metropolitan resources of representation at the
grassroots level in a quest for justice and restitution for the
catastrophic effects on their lives caused by the asbestos industry
Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019035911 (print) | LCCN 2019035912 (ebook) | ISBN
9781788926805 (hardback) | ISBN 9781788926812 (pdf) | ISBN 9781788926829
(epub) | ISBN 9781788926836 (kindle edition)
Subjects: LCSH: SociolinguisticsSouth AfricaKuruman. |
LiteracyPolitical aspectsSouth AfricaKuruman. | Evidence,
DocumentarySouth AfricaKuruman. | Asbestos industryHealth
aspectsSouth AfricaKuruman. | AsbestosLaw and legislationSouth
AfricaKuruman. | Asbestos minersPolitical activitySouth
AfricaKuruman. Classification: LCC P40.45.S6 T75 2020 (print) |
LCC P40.45.S6 (ebook) |
DDC 306.440968dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035911
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035912
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-680-5 (hbk)
Multilingual Matters
UK: St Nicholas House, 3134 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.
USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA.
Copyright 2020 John Trimbur.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned.
Typeset by Nova Techset Private Limited, Bengaluru and Chennai, India.
Printed and bound in the UK by the CPI Books Group Ltd.
Printed and bound in the US by NBN.
Contents
The first three people to thank for their help in putting this book together were key figures in the formation of the Asbestos Interest Group (AIG) in Kuruman, South Africa in late 2001 and early 2002. This book would not have been possible without the many conversations over the years with Richard Aitken, Sophia Kisting and Stephen Kotoloane. Each has provided key insights, details and clarifications, although they are not, of course, responsible for the interpretations in this book. I thank them all for their generosity, wit, kindness and hospitality.
There are many others to thank for interviews and conversations: Addison Oepeng, Brenda Sethibeng and Chalene Pretorious on the AIG; Tina Da Cruz, John Doidge, Jim teWaterNaude and Phiroshaw Camay on various aspects concerning the Asbestos Relief Trust; Judith Cornell, Mohammed Jeebhay and Elizabeth Nodu Nolokwe on the Industrial Health Research Group and the rise of occupational health activism in the 1980s; Barry Castleman on his 1983 visit to South Africa; Fano Endor on the workshops he led in 2001 for the Asbestos Collaborative; Robert R. Jones on his research with the AIG on secondary asbestos contamination; and Richard Spoor, who devised the legal strategy in the compensation case against the multinational corporation Gencor and its asbestos mining affiliates.
I am especially grateful to David Goldblatt for permission to use photographs from his asbestos series in this book.
Rochelle Kapp, Karen Press and David Johnson read all or part of the manuscript in its early stages and provided invaluable feedback and comradely encouragement. They are great readers and great friends.
I want to thank Emerson College for two Faculty Advancement Fund Grants which supported research trips to South Africa.
Jan Blommaert and Carolyn McKinney wrote the most collegial, intellectually engaging and helpful reviews of the manuscript imaginable. Likewise, the editors of the Studies in Knowledge Production and Participation series, Mary Jane Curry and Theresa Lillis, gave me wonderful feedback and encouragement. Multilingual Matters editor Anna Roderick has been great to work with.
