Agent of Harm and Good Corporate Citizen? The Case of Tyson Foods

Author

Jennifer Lindmar Schally, University of Tennessee - KnoxvilleFollow

Date of Award

8-2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Sociology

Major Professor

Lois Presser

Committee Members

Michelle Brown, Sherry Cable, Elizabeth Strand, Avi Brisman

Abstract

Industrial agriculture inflicts major harms on nonhuman animals, the environment and human health. How do agribusinesses culturally legitimize their harmful practices? Utilizing critical discourse analysis, I clarify the ways in which one large agribusiness, Tyson Foods, disguises their actions while at the same time presents the image of a benign, good corporate citizen. The discourses employed by Tyson gain legitimacy by drawing on and aligning with larger cultural discourses that are often taken for granted. This research, situated at the intersection of green and cultural criminologies, makes a contribution to these as well as to the burgeoning social harm approach within criminology.

Recommended Citation

Schally, Jennifer Lindmar, "Agent of Harm and Good Corporate Citizen? The Case of Tyson Foods. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2014.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2856