Coexistence of Poverty and Cancer

Abstract

In some relatively undeveloped rural areas of China, cancer is deeply entangled with poverty and other social problems. This study discusses a state-owned farm in Jiangxi, where residents believed that cancer was caused by pollution from a local glass factory and phosphorus fertilizer plant. Our analysis of what the villagers considered ‘iron proof’ could not confirm an association between cancer and pollution from existing industries, but despite this, residents took their evidence and petitioned various levels of government. Their persistence was fuelled by their resentment of their relative disadvantage in relation to surrounding villages and their desire to get the government to improve their water supply. The case illustrates how different social problems become ‘bundled,’ and how emotions shape perceptions of risk.