Texas Christian University, Sociology and Anthropology, Fort Worth, Texas 76129, USA.
Med Anthropol. 2011 Jan;30(1):30-55. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2010.531067.
The unprecedented toxic release in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001 created one of the worst environmental disasters in US history, followed by a contentious and ongoing battle over the existence, etiology, and legitimation of World Trade Center-related illness. In this paper, I explore the enactment of epistemic authority by a complex array of stakeholders--government officials, scientists, physicians, environmentalists, advocates, journalists, and politicians--who have woven medical-scientific knowledge into their competing agendas and platforms. Despite the scientific validation of environmental dangers, the clinical documentation of illness and the epidemiological substantiation of links between environmental exposure and illness onset, the political-economic interests of federal, state, and local bodies have often been privileged over the protection of public health. 9/11 illness is a "contested illness" enmeshed in politically charged disputes regarding the relationship of environmental toxins to disease.
2001 年 9 月 11 日，下曼哈顿发生了史无前例的有毒物质释放事件，这是美国历史上最严重的环境灾难之一，随后围绕着世贸中心相关疾病的存在、病因和合法化问题展开了一场有争议的持续斗争。在本文中，我探讨了一系列复杂的利益相关者——政府官员、科学家、医生、环保主义者、倡导者、记者和政治家——如何通过将医学科学知识纳入他们相互竞争的议程和平台来行使知识权威。尽管环境危险已经得到科学验证，疾病的临床记录以及环境暴露与疾病发病之间联系的流行病学证实，但联邦、州和地方机构的政治经济利益往往优先于保护公众健康。9/11 疾病是一种“有争议的疾病”，它涉及到环境毒素与疾病之间关系的政治争议。
