Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that the theoretical approaches to analyze the case studies by discussing four major arguments: the export of hazards, the dependency perspectives, the theory of class formation, and the political economy of occupational diseases. It offers background information on some of the main characteristics of the petrochemical industry, then situates the geographic, historic, and political-economic context of the Bayport and Camaçari complexes, as well as Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority and Cetrel. The book deals with an overview of the Brazilian national political context throughout the twenty-year history of the Camaçari complex, and then moves to a political-economic analysis of the history of the complex, emphasizing the evolution of the environmental management policies.