Legitimizing Corporate Harm

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 1-16

3. Industrial Agriculture and Its Harms

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 17-26

4. The Nature of Tyson’s Harms

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 27-38

5. Contextualizing the “Socially Responsible” Corporation and the Cultural Legitimation of Harm

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 39-53

6. Disguising Harms: Talking and Not Talking About It

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 55-63

7. Being Good: Or at Least Not Bad

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 65-73

8. Taking Stock, Taking Action

   • Jennifer L. Schally

   Pages 75-81

9. Back Matter

   Pages 83-97

   PDF

This book utilizes critical discourse analysis to illuminate the ways in which one of the largest agribusinesses in operation, Tyson Foods, disguises their actions whilst simultaneously presenting the image of a benign, good corporate citizen. Schally unveils how the discourses employed by Tyson gain legitimacy by drawing on and aligning with larger cultural discourses that are often taken for granted and not adequately scrutinised. This original research, situated at the intersection of green and cultural criminologies, contributes to these current perspectives as well as to the burgeoning social harm approach within criminology. 


A bold and engaging study, this book will be indispensable for students and scholars of green criminology, corporate crime, animals and society, and environmental sociology, as well as environmental and animal rights activists.

• Green Criminology
• Environmental Justice
• Food
• Cultural Criminology
• Criminal Justice
• Species Justice
• Agribusiness
• Animal harm
• Intensive animal farming
• Discourse
• Environmental violations
• Corporate identity
• Metonymy
• Animal rights
• corporate crime
• corporate social responsibility

“A piquant account of very insalubrious practices! Schally has made an important contribution to green cultural criminology with her trenchant critique of corporate environmental harm.” (Avi Brisman, Associate Professor, School of Justice Studies, College of Justice and Safety, Eastern Kentucky University, USA)

“This book provides a damning indictment of how animal harm is legitimized within contemporary agricultural production in the United States. Through analysis of language and corporate messages Schally provides a fascinating insight into the different ways in which animal harm is hidden, normalised and legalised within the animal product industry. This book is an important contribution to green criminology's species justice literature.” (Angus Nurse, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology and Sociology, Middlesex University, UK)

• Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA, USA

  Jennifer L. Schally

Jennifer L. Schally is on the faculty of the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg, USA. 

Policies and ethics