Charles Louisson

PhD Candidate in Criminology

Supervisors: Dr Sarah Monod de Froideville and Professor Simon Mackenzie

Occupational Chemical Injury and Redress in New Zealand

My doctoral research seeks to uncover and expose the gross victimization experienced by those who worked with chemicals, and their families, from a range of different industries within a New Zealand context. Unlike many other crimes, the line of causality and harm within the context of chemical injury is blurred and stretched by the passage of time and incubation periods of diseases. This results in victims of occupational chemical industry being abandoned by government institutions and the criminal justice system more broadly leaving the afflicted bereft of justice, acknowledgment, and assistance.

My research employs a blend of state-corporate, occupational crime, victimology, and epidemiological epistemology literatures. Through examining the experiences of those victimized by chemicals in an occupational context, in addition to their experiences of fighting for redress and acknowledgement, this research shall deepen the understanding of what it means to live with the effects of occupational chemical injury and the impacts of organized abandonment at the hands of the state.

Contact: charles.louisson@vuw.ac.nz