Compensation, commodification, and disablement: How law has dehumanized laboring bodies and excluded nonlaboring humans

Review: "Injury impoverished: Workplace accidents, capitalism, and law in the progressive era', by Nate Holdren, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2020. Pp. xvii, 292. $59.99. Thanks to Nate Holdren’s remarkable new book, 'Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Michigan law review 2021-04, Vol.119 (6), p.1269-1287
Main Author: Tani, Karen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Commodification
Industrial accidents
Labor laws and legislation
Law and legislation
Workers' compensation
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Review: "Injury impoverished: Workplace accidents, capitalism, and law in the progressive era', by Nate Holdren, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2020. Pp. xvii, 292. $59.99. Thanks to Nate Holdren’s remarkable new book, 'Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era'. Part I of this Review summarizes some of the book’s most important contributions. It will not do justice to the richness and complexity of the text, but it will capture large themes and striking examples. Part II builds on Holdren’s insights about disability discrimination and the disabling power of law, emphasizing why, in the U.S. context, being excluded from labor-force participation is so meaningful. Simply put, the best social benefits flow through employment; those who cannot access employer-linked social welfare are at a deep disadvantage. Part III concludes, aiming to strike the same notes as the book’s powerful closing.
ISSN:0026-2234
1939-8557
DOI:10.36644/mlr.119.6.compensation