International Seafarers and Transnationalism in the Twenty-First Century

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lefkowitz RY ; Lefkowitz RY
• Description:
  In International Seafarers and Transnationalism in the Twenty-First Century, author Professor Helen Sampson takes you on her journey among seafarers in multiple environments-at sea, in native homelands, and seafarer diaspora communities abroad. The goal of her book, a culmination of approximately 15 years of field research, is to explore and better understand the complex relationships between seafarers and their environment. In turn, she provides a window by which occupational and environmental medicine physicians can learn about the work and personal lives of this large, but sometimes neglected, group of workers. Professor Sampson's mission was no simple task. She glosses over her own barriers to gaining access to restricted areas including the ports and vessels, and how she developed trusting relationships with her subjects, allowing for open and honest case studies. Whereas these practical research challenges were understandably great, her sophisticated exercise of defining seafarers' home environments and work environments was similarly impressive, although difficult to follow at points. The author successfully argues that seafarers are a unique "transnational" community with blurred boundaries between home and work. For seafarers, home and work environments frequently meld. After the first three chapters describing research methods, goals, definitions, and unique aspects of the shipping industry, Professor Sampson turns to the lives of seafarers, highlighting the challenges faced by certain land-based Ghanaian and Cape Verdean seafarer communities in north Germany (Chapter 4). Her subjects face unique incentives to enter or leave the seafarer labor market, on the basis of pension guarantees and restrictions from working with specific flag ships. They find themselves in what can be described as unemployment purgatory, awaiting work on German-flag ships (which is described as a rarity because of legalities), resisting work on ships flying other flags in the interim, and collecting a future pension depending on following such restrictions (often several years away). Through individual case studies, the author reveals the occupational limbo of these foreign seafarers who are trapped awaiting legitimate skilled work at sea. At this point, the author highlights that even on land, seafarers can be "out of sight, out of mind," presenting opportunity for exploitation amid the unfortunate circumstance where seafarers are figuratively "left adrift" post contract. Chapters 5 and 6 contained the bulk of Professor Sampson's observations of seafarers at sea. The connections between flag state, ship owner, manning agent, and seafarer are superimposed on the internal chain of command (evoking militaristic comparison) on the ship itself, which lead to a dense array of potential psychosocial stressors in working seafarers. On board, a secondary and parallel hierarchy may form along lines of nationality. For example, on one ship, a Filipino officer preferred to dine with lower ranked Filipino ratings rather than eat in the more elegant officer's dining room with exclusively European officers. Turning from these broader issues of power and social structure, Professor Sampson effectively elucidates the roles of individual workers on the ship, including descriptions of common work performed by various workers on deck, in the engine room, or in the galley. These simple descriptions were useful and informative to a reader unaccustomed to life at sea. Smoothing over the complexities is a welcome layer of commentary, case studies, and photographs of seafarers working at sea that provides context for her sociological analysis. In a particularly poignant section, Helen Sampson extends her analysis from the seafarers themselves to their loved ones (partners, children) at home (Chapter 8). She provides insight into the unique dynamic between the predominantly male seafarers and their partners, who live in the absence of their husbands for 9 months of the year only to be "invaded" by their financial provider for the 3-month break when the seafarer is home, all day long. The emotional balance between complete independence and complete lack of independence is highlighted in colorful detail among families in two Indian seafarer communities. Individual case studies lend personal detail to this intense and at times tragic narrative. After this stirring chapter, she concludes the book by rounding-out her definition of transnationalism, and highlights fundamental developments in the seafarer work environment that may be implicated in isolation and marginalization of certain seafarers worldwide. The book projects the home and work lives of seafarers through the lens of specific ethnographic and sociologic constructs, which may be unfamiliar to the casual reader. If these barriers can be breached, the resultant work provides numerous observational data that can feed hypotheses for occupational medicine research on this essential workforce. Importantly, the book provides a hands on view of unique psychosocial stressors in the nebulous, omnipresent, and/or inescapable work environment of seafarers. However, the occupational medicine physician quickly identifies other more traditional workplace hazards of the physical, chemical, and biological sort. Perhaps most significantly, the book provides a framework for understanding the lives of seafarers paramount to proper assessment of potential hazards over the full gamut of the occupation. Although many occupational medicine training programs routinely emphasize the importance of understanding the wide variety of land-based industries, certain industries remain out of reach of traditional programs. Apart from valuable documentaries such as this book, opportunities for getting to know seafarers may be few and far between. We simply do not have much interaction with working seafarers on a regular basis. At port, customs laws may restrict movement of seafarers, who must remain on board their ships or in the immediate port zone. This is unfortunate enough for the seafarer, but the greater effect is to reduce their visibility to society. After reading this book, the occupational physician can now reach beyond these limitations. Aside from satisfying a simple curiosity about seafarers, it may serve occupational physicians well to better understand such nontraditional workforces with ill-defined home and work boundaries. As traditional workplaces evolve, so do traditional workplace hazards. Understanding seafarers and their unique occupational exposures, environment, and risks provides a new lens through which to study and anticipate occupational medicine trends of the future. On a related note, those with pagers, e-mails, and cell phones (active over weekends or on vacations) may find themselves in a similarly pervasive work environment with some familiar psychosocial risks. Through her book, Professor Helen Sampson has opened us to the lives of seafarers. It is incumbent upon us to understand seafarers' unique experiences the best we can, anticipate future challenges and occupational medicine for these workers, and meet those challenges. Importantly, this book has much to offer a wide range of occupational medicine physicians, whether in the academic domain, private practice, and government, regardless of a specific interest in seafarers. Her descriptive, well-researched opus reveals the inner world of a unique and vital global workforce. May we all strive to know our patients as well as she knows these workers [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Economics Environment Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Demographic Characteristics Economic Impact Environmental Exposure Environmental Factors Environmental Hazards Seaman Seasonal Factors Sociological Factors Work Environment Workers
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Volume:
  57
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049633
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2015 Jan; 57(1):e1-e2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  Yale University School of Medicine
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d4efa2e182ee53ec3d029d12045d5320a1bb1aecb078be001fccb839ada42bfc4528d2c461c2c8ab511bbe6f8752e517033c44e3539d72237d734b61ba14ba7d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210326/cdc_210326_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 53.21 KB ]