The search for information and analysis of the mortality of agricultural workers in underdeveloped countries shows that there exists hardly any research on this subject. What little information that can be found is incomplete and scattered, making it difficult to gain systematic empirical knowledge of the problem. In addition, data are not collected for the purpose of explaining the patterns of mortality observed. It therefore seems necessary to generate a theoretical framework permitting the analysis of mortality among agricultural workers. This paper intends to point out the close relationship that exists between the mortality and the dynamic of the social and economic process of agriculture in the underdeveloped countries. By doing so, we hope to show that the problems of health, disease, and death of socially defined groups are not simply a matter of biology, but of the interrelation between biology and the historical process of which these groups are a part.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
FedericiN.De Sarno PrignanoA.PasqualiP.CarianiG.NataleM.Urban/rural differences in mortality, 1950–1970. World Health Statistics Report29(5): 254, 1976.
JohnsonG. Z.Health conditions in rural and urban areas of developing countries. Population Studies17: 293–309, 1963.
4.
SeklaniM.L'Evolution de la Mortalité dans les Pays Arab Depuis le Milieu du 20e Siecle. Paper presented at the Conference on Socioeconomic Determinants and Consequences of Mortality, Mexico City, 1979.
5.
VallinJ.La mortalité en Algerie. Population30(6): 1041, 1975.
6.
GaisieS. K.Some Aspects of Socio-economic Determinants of Mortality in Tropical Africa. Paper presented at the Conference on Socioeconomic Determinants and Consequences of Mortality, Mexico City, 1979.
7.
CantrelleP.Niveaux, typeo el tendance de la mortalité. In Croissance Demographique et Evolution Socio-économique en Afrique de l'Ouest, edited by CaldwellJ. C., Population Council, New York, 1973.
8.
RumfordJ. C.HeperkanY.FincanciogluN.The principals and preliminary results of the Turkish demographic survey. Public Health Rep. 83(7): 578, 1968.
9.
BehmH.Socioeconomic Determinants of Mortality in Latin America. Paper presented at the Conference on Socioeconomic Determinants and Consequences of Mortality, Mexico City, 1979.
10.
CorderoE.La subestimación de la mortalidad infantil en Mexico. Demografia y Economía2(1): 56–58, 1968.
11.
MatosC.Differenciales de la Mortalidad Urbana y Rural en Cuba, 1973–1978. Thesis, Instituto de Desarrollo de la Salud, MINSAP, Havana, 1979.
12.
GuttmacherS.DanielsonR.Changes in the Cuban health care. Int. J. Health Serv. 7(3): 383–400, 1977.
13.
JordanJ.Desarrollo Humano en Cuba. Ed. Científico Técnico, Havana, 1979.
14.
GordonJ. E.SinghS.WyonJ. B.Causes of death at different ages, by sex, and by season, in rural population of Punjab. Indian J. Med. Res.53(9): 911, 1965.
15.
DjurfeltG.LindbergS.Pills Against Poverty. Studentlitteratur-Curzon Press, Sweden, 1975.
16.
HughesC.HunterJ.Disease and development in Africa. In The Social Organization of Health, edited by DreitzelH. P., pp. 150–214. Macmillan, New York, 1971.
17.
BreilhJ.Epidemiología: Economía, Medicina y Política. Universidad Central, Quito, 1979.
18.
LaurellA. C.Work and health in Mexico. Int. J. Health Serv. 9(4): 543–568, 1979.
19.
LaurellA. C.La Salud Enfermedad como Proceso Social. Memorias Seminario Salud enfermedad en México. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, 1979.
20.
EyerJ.SterlingP.Stress-related mortality and social organization. URPE9(1): 2–44, 1977.
21.
LewinsonC.Riesgo Profesional: Agentes Químicos en el Lugar de Trabajo. ICF, Switzerland, 1975.
22.
BravermanH.Trabajo y Capital Monopolista. Nuestro Tiempo, Mexico, 1976.
23.
WiesenfeldS. L.Sickle-cell trait in human biological and cultural evolution. Science157: 1134–1140, 1967.
24.
SaracciR.Epidemiological strategies and environmental factors. Int. J. Epidemiol.7(2): 104–107, 1978.
25.
AntonovskyA.Social class, life expectancy and overall mortality. Milbank Mem. Fund. Q.45(1): 31–73, 1967.
26.
CEPAL. El Desarrollo Social en las Areas Rurales de América Latina. Servicios de Información No. 276, Chile, 1978.
27.
ArroyoG.AceitunoG.Agribusiness Ganancia contra hambre. Le Monde Diplomatique1(6): 22, 1979.
28.
BurbachR.FlynnP.Agribusiness target in Latin America. NACLA Reports12(1): 5–7, 1978.
29.
TreubalM.La crisis alimenticía y el Tercer Mundo. Economía de Latinoamérica2: 61–80, 1979.
30.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture in the Americas: Statistical Data. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1975.
31.
U.N. World Food Conference. The Assessment of the World Food Situation: Present and Future. Document E/CONF. 65/3.
32.
BallN.Drought and dependence in the Sahel. Int. J. Health Sen. 8(2): 271–298, 1978.
33.
World Health Organization. World Health Statistics Annual 1972, Volume 1. Geneva, 1975.
34.
AshfordN. A.Crisis in the Workplace. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1976.
35.
TellerC.SibriaR.BentV.del CantoJ.SaenzL.Population and Nutrition: Implications of Sociodemographic Trends and Differentials for Food and Nutritional Policy in Central America and Panama. Paper presented at the IX International Nutrition Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 1978.
36.
Hechos Que Revelan Progreso en La Salud 1971. PAHO/WHO Publición Científica No. 227, Washington, D.C., 1971.
37.
MalinaR. M.HimesJ. H.Differential age effects in seasonal variation of mortality in a Zapotec municipio. Hum. Biol.49(3): 415–428, 1977.
38.
SomerA.MosleyW. H.East Bengal cyclone of November 1970. Lancet, May 13, 1972, p. 7759.
39.
LaurellA. C.GilJ. BlancoDisease and development. Int. J. Health Serv. 7(3): 401–423, 1977.
40.
SmithP. L.Crisis mortality in the 19th century Philippines. Journal of Asian Studies38(1): 51–76, 1978.
41.
HernandezM.HidalgoC. PerezRamirezJ.MadrigalH.Effects of economic growth on nutrition in a tropical community. Ecology of Food and Nutrition3(2): 283–291, 1974.
42.
GrossD. R.UnderwoodB. A.Technological change and caloric cost: Sisal agriculture in northeastern Brazil. American Anthropologist73(3): 725–736, 1971.
43.
FribergL.RongeH. E.Hygien. Swenska Bokförlaget, Stockholm, 1967.
44.
Salud occupacional en el sector bananero en Centroamerica. Revista Centroamericana de Ciencias de la Salud4(9): 9–67, 1978.
45.
WanT.WrightA.Occupational differentials in chronic disabilities. J. Occup. Med.15(6): 494, 1973.
46.
ProtheroM.Disease and mobility: A neglected factor in epidemiology. Int. J. Epidemiol.6(3): 259–267, 1977.
47.
BenyoussefA.Health effects of rural-urban migration in developing countries: Senegal. Soc. Sci. Med.8(2): 259–267, 1974.
48.
StrombergJ.PeymanH.DowdJ. E.Migration and health: Adaptation experiences of Iranian migrants to the city of Teheran. Soc. Sci. Med.8(2): 309–323, 1974.
49.
EllingR.Industrialization and occupational health in underdeveloped countries. Int. J. Health Serv. 7(2): 209–235, 1977.
50.
Salud Público de México17(5), 1975.
51.
SenewiratneB.ThambipillaiS.Patterns of poisoning in developing countries. Br. J. Prev. Soc. Med.28(1): 32–36, 1974.
