The Observatory of the Américas
as a network in environmental
and worker health in the Americas
O O bser vat ór io d as Am ér icas
com o rede de saú de am bien tal e
d o tr abalh ad or n as Am ér icas
1 Department of Work En viron m en t, Un iversity of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854 USA. carlos_siqu eira@u m l.edu 2 Departamento de Medicin a Preven tiva, UFBA.
Carlos Edu ardo Siqu eira 1 Fern an do Carvalho 2
Abstract T his art icle reviews t he scope of several Observatories fou n d by a search in the In tern et throu gh the Google search en-gin e. A ft er exam in in g t hese observat ories, it d escribes t h e aim s an d in it ial accom -plishm ents of the Observatory of the Am er-icas as a n et work of profession als an d ac-tivists from different countries in the Am er-icas. T he article concludes with a discussion of t h e pat t ern iden t ified am on g t h ese ob-servat ories: t hey m ay be clearin ghou ses or n etworks, or both.
Ke y wo rd s O bservat ory, N et work, En vi-ron m en tal an d worker health
Resu m o Este artigo descreve o objetivo de vários observatórios en con trados pela bu s-ca n a In t ern et , n o m ot or de bu ss-ca Google. Depois de ex am in ar esses observat órios, o artigo descreve os objetivos e realizações ini-ciais do O bservat ório das A m éricas com o rede de profission ais e ativistas de diferen-tes países das Am éricas. O artigo conclui dis-cu t in do o padrão iden t ificado en t re esses observat órios com o cen t ros de in form ação ou redes, ou am bos.
Introduction
Accor d in g to th e Ran dom H ou se Dict ion ary (1967), an observatory is:1. a place or build-in g equ ipped an d u sed for m akbuild-in g observa-tions of astronom ical, m eteorological, or other n at u ral phen om en a, esp. a place equ ipped wit h a powerfu l t elescope for observin g t he planets and stars; 2. an institution which con-trols or carries on the work of su ch a place; 3. a place or structure for affording an extensive view; ou tlook.
Wh ile t h e wor d obser vat or y h as always been lin ked to th e scien ce of Astr on om y, r e-sear ch er s an d social in st it u t ion s all over t h e world have u sed the third defin ition above to n am e in it iat ives aim ed at st u d yin g a var iet y of social p h en om en a. N et wor ks of labor u n ion s, com m u n ity or gan ization s, m u ltilat-er al an d govltilat-er n m en t agen cies, an d u n ivltilat-er si-ties h ave been form ed over th e last decade to d escr ibe an d an alyze t h e im p act of n at ion al an d in t er n at ion al econ om ic p olicies on t h e health of population s, chan ges in the world of wo r k cau sed by glo balizat io n o f n eo liber al policies or h u m an resou rces developm en t in healthcare in the Am ericas.
Maybe th e p r olifer ation of a br oad r an ge of research activities developed by observato-r ies is observato-r elat ed t o t h e gobservato-r o win g wo observato-r ld wid e awaren ess that on e can on ly u n derstan d real-ity “thin kin g globally an d actin g locally.” Fur-therm ore, the econ om ic, social, political, sci-en tific, techn ological, an d cultural trsci-en ds that star ted with in th e last d ecad es of th e twen ti-eth cen tu ry seem to h ave con solidated a n ew paradigm that dem an ds an d m akes easier the creation of in tern ation al n etworks for un der-st an d in g an d ch an gin g r ealit y. In t h is p ap er we first review the scope of several observato-ries foun d by a search in the In tern et through t h e Google sear ch en gin e < h t t p :/ / www. google.com > . N ext we su m m ar ize t h e aim s an d in itial accom plish m en ts of th e Observatory of the Am ericas. Last we discu ss the pat -t er n id en -t ified in o bser va-t o r ies d escr ibed , em phasizin g to what exten t they have charact er ischaract ics of n echaract wor ks or ar e or gan ized charact o ob -serve social phen om en a.
Observatory of Health
Th e O bser vat ór io d a Saú d e – < h t t p :/ / www. opas.org.br/observatorio/observatorios.cfm #>
– is p ar t o f a co o p er at io n b et ween st at e h ealt h d ep ar t m en t s in Br azil an d t h e Pan -Am erican H ealth Organization (PAH O). This O b ser vat o r y is a web sit e t h at u ses exist in g h ealth in form ation , an alyzes it, an d m akes it available to an yon e in terested in m on itorin g, st u d yin g, or d eep en in g t h e kn owled ge of a given h ealt h su bject . In for m at ion p r od u ced by the Observatório da Saú de shou ld be u sed by m an agers, h ealth profession als an d m em bers of n ation al, state, an d local H ealth Coun -cils. Un iversities, th e press, an d average citi-zen s in t er est ed in in h ealt h t op ics can also ben efit fr om t h ese an alyses. Th e Wor ld H ealth Organ ization (WH O/ PAH O) Decen tralized Techn ical Cooperation has also stim -u lat ed Br azilian st at es t o im p lem en t t h eir own state observatories.
Th e O bser vat ór io d a Saú d e is com p osed of two sm aller observatories:
a) Observatório da Region alização (Observa-tory of Region alization ) < h ttp:/ / www.opas .org. b r / o b ser vat o r io / p r in cip al.cfm ?h o b -sn u m cod = 12> . Th is O bser vat or y is p ar t of t h e PAH O t ech n ical coop er at ion p r ogr am with Brazil an d aim s at m on itorin g the feder-al gover n m en t p olicies of d ecen t r feder-alizat ion an d r egion alizat ion of t h e Br azilian Un ified H ealth System ( SUS) . It also aim s at con -t r ibu -t in g -t o so lvin g p r o blem s in -t h e h eal-t h syst em t o get h er wit h h ealt h m an ager s wh o wish t o im p r ove t h e q u alit y an d eq u it y o f h ealth ser vices in Br azil.
b) Observatório da Reform a (Observatory of th e H ealth System Refor m ) < h ttp :/ / www. opas.org.br/observatorio/observatorios.cfm # > . Th is O bser vat o r y aim s at st r en gt h en in g t h e p ar t n er sh ip bet ween PAH O ’s Tech n ical Cooperation program an d Brazilian states by st im u lat in g t h e cr eat io n o f p er m an en t “wat ch d og” gr ou p s. Th ese gr ou p s wou ld m on it or t h e on goin g h ealt h syst em r efor m an d flag relevan t issu es that m ay arise du rin g its im plem en tation . The Observatório da Re-for m a in t en d s t o follow u p an d u n d er st an d t h e ch an gin g p olit ical con ju n ct u r es in each state by obser vin g th e par ticu lar ities of each st at e. It p r op oses t o est ablish join t act ion s wit h st at e H ealt h Dep ar t m en t s an d lo cal com m u n ities.
The European Trade Un ion Techn ical Bu reau for H ealth an d Safety was established in 1989 by the European Trade Un ion Con federation ( ETUC) in or der to m on itor th e dr aftin g, t r an sp osit ion , an d ap p licat ion of Eu r op ean wor kin g en viron m en t legislation . The TUTB coor d in at es t h e wor k car r ied ou t by t h e Wo r ker s' Gr ou p of th e Ad visor y Com m ittee for Safety, H ygien e, an d H ealth Protection at Work, wh ich fo r m s t h e b asis o f it s o p in io n s t o t h e Eu r o p ea n Co m m issio n o n p r o p o sed n ew Eu r o p ean U n io n H ealt h an d Safet y at Wor k D irectives. The TUTB set up an Obser-vator y (web site) – < h ttp :/ / www.etu c.or g/ t u t b/ u k/ p r ojet s1. h t m l> – t o follow u p t h e im plem en tation of health an d safet y legisla-t io n in legisla-t h e co u n legisla-t r ies legisla-t h alegisla-t ar e m em ber s of the European Un ion . The TUTB Observatory h as focu sed on several directives: th e Fram e-wor k Dir ect ive, t h e Mat er n it y Pr ot ect ion , Wor k wit h Disp lay Scr een Equ ip m en t , an d Man u al H an dlin g of Loads Directives. Th ese are the first Directives that requ ire the m em -ber st at es t o d r aw u p n at ion al r ep or t s on t h eir im p lem en t at ion . Th e O bser vat or y of t h e TUTB h as p u blish ed ar t icles an d ot h er publication s that an alyze the im plem en tation of th e Directives.
Social Observatory of Latin America
Th e O b ser vat ó r io So cial d a Am ér ica Lat in a (OSAL) – < h t t p : / / o s a l . c l a c s o . o r g / e s p a n o l / h t m l / p r im er a.h t m l> – is r u n by t h e Con sejo Lat i-n oam ericai-n o de Ciei-n cias Sociales (CLACSO) sin ce Febr u ar y 2000. It s o bject ive is t o p r e-sen t in fo r m at io n t h at allo ws fo r a cr it ical, h ist o r ical- st r u ct u r al d eb at e ab o u t t h e n ew realities faced by Latin Am erican societies. It focu ses esp ecially on th e im p lem en tation of n eo lib er al p o licies in t h e last d ecad es. Th e O SAL aim s at st im u lat in g an alysis an d d is-cu ssion abou t t h e n u m er ou s for m s of social an t agon ism fou n d in t h ese societ ies an d t h e characteristics of social m ovem en ts in the region . Th is O bser vator y is also taken as a vir -t u al sp ace fo r exch an ges am o n g so cial r e-sear ch er s an d p o lit ical an d so cial m o ve-m en ts. Th e OSAL h as pu blish ed a periodical sin ce May 2000, wh ich is d ist r ibu t ed in t h e Am er icas, tar getin g r esear ch er s, p olit ician s, an d social leaders.
So cial Observato ry
Based in Argen tin a, th e Social Observatory – < http://www.observatoriosocial.com .ar/> – is ad d r essed to in telectu als an d p olicy m aker s, p ar t icu lar ly p olit ician s an d t h eir t ech n ical staff. Th e m ain objective of th is Observatory ( website) is to d evelop an d d iscu ss con cep ts th at cou ld h elp decision -m aker s accom plish their political tasks. The Observatório Social intends to gather, process, and dissem inate, in a p lu r alistic way, in for m ation th at d iscu sses the several dom ain s that represen t the Social. Th is O bser vat or y h as wor ked alon g t h e fol-lowin g lin es: in dicators for un derstan din g so-cial dynam ics, prevention of addiction, education for social developm en t, hou sin g an d u r -ban poverty, lin ks between econ om ic an d social policy, an d the sosocial econ om y. This Ob -servatory plan s to set u p a n etwork of sim ilar observatories of in stitu tion s an d com m u n ity cen ter s all over Ar gen tin a, n ot on ly th r ou gh th e In tern et or oth er m edia bu t also th rou gh relationships that connect and com m it people an d in stitu tion s to each oth er . Th e O bser -vatório Social publishes a periodical to pu bli-cize their ideas an d action s.
Observato ry o f Work in Globalization
Th e O bser vat or y of Work in Globalization – < h t t p :/ / www.obser vat or iod elt r abajo.or g/ > – is a join t in it iat ive of t h e Fu n d ación Paz y Solidaridad Serafín Aliaga of the Com issiones Obreras de Espan ha an d the Agen cia de Cooperación In tern acion al, Min isterio de Asu n -tos Exteriores of Spain. Created in 2002, it has 350 su bscr iber s an d m or e t h an 15,000 visit s t o t h eir h o m e p age. Th is O bser vat o r y h as a stron g focus on the globalization process. The O bser vat o r io d el Tr ab ajo seem s t o b e ver y p olit ically act ive, accor d in g t o t h eir m ot t o: "To obser ve an d t o act ". It h as or gan ized an d/or participated in several workers' even ts again st globalization at the local an d in tern a-t ion al levels, su ch as a-t h e 2002 Wor ld Social held at Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Social Watch
vato-r iosocial.ovato-r g.bvato-r > – is an in it iat ive of t h e Br azilian Cen t r al Ún ica d os Tr abalh ad o r es (CUT), the largest n ation al trade un ion orga-n izat ioorga-n iorga-n Br azil, iorga-n collabor at ioorga-n wit h t h e Cen t r o d e Est u d os d e Cu lt u r a Con t em porân ea ( CEDEC) , th e Departam en to In ter -sin d ical d e Est u d os Socioecon ôm icos ( DIEESE) , an d th e Red e In ter - Un iver sitár ia d e Est u d os e Pesqu isas sobr e o Tr abalh o (UNITRABALH O). It has in tern ation al su p -p or t of in st it u t ion s fr om Fin lan d , H ollan d , Norway, the U.S., Germ any, the International Labor O ffice ( ILO ) , an d th e Pu blic Ser vices In tern ation al (PSI).
This Observatory aim s at m on itorin g fun -d am en t al lab o r r igh t s p r act ices o f n at io n al (pu blic an d private) an d m u ltin ation al com -p an ies in Br azil. Th e r esear ch m et h od ology ad o p t ed by t h e O bser vat ó r io So cial st ar t s wit h gat h er in g available in for m at ion ( fr om other websites or the press) on selected bu sin esses r egar d isin g issu es su ch as stock owsin er sh ip an d con t r ol, h ist or ical fact s, en vir on m en tal an d worker com plain ts, etc. Next, in -t er views ar e con d u c-t ed wi-t h wor ker s, labor u n ion r ep r esen t at ives, an d bu sin ess m an -ager s t o d ocu m en t p ot en t ial violat ion of la-bor righ ts. Th e in form ation collected is th en an alyzed takin g in to con sider ation lan gu age of ILO Con ven tion s, Social Ch arters, Volun -tary Codes of Con du ct of Bu sin esses, the Or-gan ization of Econ om ic Cooperation an d De-velop m en t ( O ECD) Dir ectives abou t Mu lti-n atiolti-n al Com p alti-n ies, th e Ulti-n ited N atiolti-n s Global Com pact, an d oth er com pan y beh av-ior stan dards advocated by In tern ation al Pro-fession al Secr et ar iat s ( IPS) an d t h e In t er n a-t ion al Con fed er aa-t ion of Fr ee Tr ad e Un ion s (ICFTU).
On e of the m ost im portan t projects of the Social Watch is the Bu sin ess Mon itorin g Pro-ject t h at aim s at glo balizin g t h e figh t fo r la-bor r igh t s. Th is in n ovat ive ap p r oach is p r o-m oted by the Du tch Nation al Con federation o f Wor ker s ( FN V) as a n ew st r at egy t o d eal wit h m u lt in at ion al com p an ies. Un ilever , Ph ilips, Ah old ( ch ain of su perm arkets called Bom p r eço in Br azil) an d Akzo N obel ar e Du tch en ter pr ises th at r u n pr odu ction u n its in Sou th Africa, Brazil, Sou th Korea, Polan d, Mexico, an d th e Czech Rep u blic. Stu d ies on the perform an ce of these fou r m u ltin ation als wer e car r ied ou t in all t h ese cou n t r ies. In Brazil, the Observatório Social has already re-sear ch ed Ah old , Un ilever , an d Akzo Nobel.
The Philips stu dy is u n der developm en t. The O b ser vat o r y also d issem in at es st u d ies p er -form ed in other cou n tries.
Observato ry o f the Americas
Th e O b ser vat o r y o f t h e Am er icas is en vi-sio n ed as a lo o se n et wo r k o f p r o fessio n als an d act ivist s in occu p at ion al an d en vir on -m en tal health in the A-m ericas. It would serve as a t ool for in t er n at ion al coop er at ion an d solid ar it y am on g t h e d iffer en t in st it u t ion s an d effo r t s t akin g p lace in t h e Am er icas t o im prove worker an d com m u n ity h ealth . Th e sharin g of experien ces an d kn owledge am on g people an d in stitution s in terested in work en -vir on m en t issu es is t h e com m on bon d t h at would en ergize this n etwork (Siqu eira 2002).
Two con fer en ces wer e h eld on Au gu st 2000 in Mor elia, Mexico; an d Ju n e 2002 in Salvador, Brazil to brin g together represen ta-tives from academ ia, NGOs, labor u n ion s, as well as p u blic p olicy m aker s, fr om Sou t h , Cen tr al, an d N or th Am er ica to exch an ge in form ation an d views abou t worker an d com -m u n ity h ealth in th e r egion of th e A-m er icas. Par t icip an t s in bot h con fer en ces d iscu ssed the em ergen ce an d im plem en tation of n eolib-er al econ om ic p olicies in Latin Am eolib-er ica an d it s n egat ive im p act s on t h e wor ld of wor k, wit h p ar t icu lar em p h asis o n t h e h ealt h an d safet y of wor ker s. Pr esen t at ion s abou t t h e North Am erican Free Trade Agreem ent (NAF-TA) , th e Free Trade Area of th e Am ericas FTAA), and Globalization and H ealth, fram ed the overall political agen da of the Obser vato-ry as an ti-n eoliberal.
Th e d evelop m en t of th is n etwor k of p r o-gressive health an d safety an d en viron m en tal profession als, activists, an d academ ics in the Am ericas was con sidered an im portan t m ech -an ism for t h em t o r esist -an d cou n t er act t h e “free trade” policies proposed by the U.S. gov-er n m en t an d its allies in th e Am gov-ericas.
Mem ber s of t h e n et wor k h ave been in -volved in th e followin g activities:
-setts Lowell, the Un iversity of Son ora (Mexi-co) , t h e Fed er al Un iver sit ies of Pelot as an d Bah ia, an d t h e Un iver sit y of Cam p in as (Brazil). The project aim s at training Mexican an d Brazilian occu pation al an d en viron m en -tal h ealth p r ofession als at th e gr ad u ate level in t h e Dep ar t m en t of Wor k En vir on m en t of UMass Lowell, conducting joint research with p r ofession als fr om Br azil an d Mexico, an d im plem en tin g sh ort-term cou rses in su bject areas deem ed im portan t.
b) O r gan izat io n o f a ser ies o f h ealt h an d safety an d en vir on m en tal wor ksh ops du r in g the Third World Social Forum held in 2003 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The few hun dred Brazil-ian pr ofession als an d activists wh o atten ded t h e wor ksh op s d ecid ed t o est ablish “a n et -work of n et-works” of occu pation al an d en vi-ron m en tal groups that are in volved in worker an d en vir o n m en t al h ealt h issu es su ch as chem ical pollu tion , su stain able hou sin g, ban of asbestos, an d water an d san itation . c) Production of a special issue of the Brazil-ian jo u r n al Ciên cia e Saú de Colet iva, pu b -lished by th e Brazilian Association of Collec-t ive H ealCollec-t h ( ABRASCO ) , Collec-t o d iscu ss Collec-t h em es addressed by the 2002 Con feren ce in Bahia. d ) Sh o r t - t er m visit s b y n et wo r k m em b er s from Brazil, U.S., an d Mexico to each other’s in stitu tion s to discu ss join t pu blication s, ad-dress en viron m en tal an d occu pation al health p r oblem s, an d p lan for fu t u r e in it iat ives. In ad d it io n , vir t u al co m m u n icat io n bet ween an d am o n g p eo p le wh o p ar t icip at ed in t h e Con fer en ces h as in cr eased sign ifican t ly, al-lowin g for fast dissem in ation of in form ation an d exch an ge of ideas.
Th e O bser vat o r y o f t h e Am er icas is a “n etwork in progress” that faces m an y obsta-cles bu t also h as good p ot en t ial t o becom e a fu lly d evelop ed an d su ccessfu l in ter n ation al n etwork. On the on e han d it has n ot yet been able t o est ablish a for m al or gan izat ion al structure com posed of a group of in stitution -al hosts that could, for exam ple, create a web-sit e for it . Th e in for m al an d vir t u al t ies be-tween in d ivid u al an d in stitu tion al m em ber s h as so far m ad e it d ifficu lt for in d ivid u als to join it and com m it to the goals an d action s of th e n etwork, an d for in tern ation al organ iza-tion s an d fu n din g agen cies to su pport it. Yet, t h is in fo r m alit y h as also en abled t h e n et-work to rem ain flexible an d open to n ew ideas an d p at h s fo r gr o wt h by lin kin g wit h m o r e con solidated n ation al an d in tern ation al n
et-works an d organ ization s. Sin ce this Observa-t or y is on ly Observa-t h r ee year s old , iObserva-t is sObserva-t ill ear ly Observa-t o t ell wh et h er t h is n et wor k will evolve as a ch ain n et wo r k, a st ar o f h u b n et wo r k o r an all- ch an n el n et wor k m od el, as p r op o sed b y Arqu illa an d Ron feldt (2001).
D iscussion
The observatories described in this article are but a sam ple of the growin g n um ber of in itia-tives by n on -govern m en tal, m u ltilateral, an d gover n m en t al or gan izat ion s t h at u n equ ivo-cally call th em selves as su ch . A closer look at t h ese o bser vat o r ies seem t o in d icat e t h at t h er e ar e t wo m ajor , t h ou gh n ot op p osit e, t yp es: a) t h e o bser vat o r y as a clear in gh o u se and b) the observatory as a n etwork.
Observatories th at are organ ized as a vir -tu al clearin ghou se or websites aim at follow-in g u p the broad im pact of social policies follow-in a given geo gr ap h ical b o u n d ar y, t h at r an ge fr om a con t in en t ( Eu r op e for t h e TUTB O b ser vat o r y) t o t h e wh o le wo r ld ( So cial Wat ch ) . All bu t o n e o f o bser vat o r ies m en -t io n ed in -t h is ar -t icle fi-t -t h is ap p r o ach . Th e ter m obser vator y is th u s ver y appr opr iate to su m m arize the m ajor activities con du cted by th em . Th e collection , an alysis, an d d issem in at io in o f iin fo r m at io in r evo lve ar o u in d o b -ser vin g tim e tr en d s, statistical p atter n s, an d geographic con trasts between an d am on g re-gion s, coun tries, an d social groups.
-san ds of people to participate in the th ree fo-ra h eld in th e last th ree years in Bfo-razil.
The Social Watch seem s to fit this descript io n as idescript o p er adescript es as an in descript er n adescript io n al n edescript -work that m on itors labor rights violation s to ch an ge illegal an d u n eth ical bu sin ess beh av-iors. The Obsevatory of Work also has sim ilar ch ar act er ist ics. Th e O b ser vat o r y o f t h e Am er icas cer t ain ly m at ch es t h e p r o file o f a n etwork.
Whatever the specific form s or objectives of t h e obser vat or ies exam in ed above, t h er e seem s to be a cen tu ries-old m etaphor u n der-lyin g all of th em : in or d er to u n d er stan d th e com p lexit ies of t h e wor ld , on e n eed s t o ob
-serve it together with fellow hum an bein gs. If th is id ea was tr u e in th e Mid d le Age r egar d -in g the n atu ral world, when the first observa-t or ies wer e cr eaobserva-t ed observa-t o obser ve an d d iscover t h e Un iver se, it is n ow essen t ial. By t h e year 2003, it is fairly clear to all that we do live in a global village th at r equ ir es m u ltip le con n ec-tion s an d lin ks for u s to m ake sen se of it.
Th e O b ser vat o r y o f t h e Am er icas m ay t h u s be viewed as a st r at egic effo r t t o bu ild in t er n at ion al con n ect ion s an d lin kages t h at en able a bet t er u n d er st an d in g of t h e n at u r e of t h e en vir on m en t al an d occu p at ion al h ealth p r oblem s in th e Am er icas an d h ow to chan ge them . All aboard!!!
Bibliographic references
Ar qu illa J & Ron feld t D 2001. N et works an d N et wars. T he Fu tu re of T error, Crim e an d M ilitan cy. Ran d
Corporation. California.
Ran dom H ou se Dict ion ary of t he En glish Lan gu age
1967. Random House. New York.
Siqu eira CE, Leven stein C & DeLau rier G 2002. Report from Morelia: Toward the Form ation of the ‘Obser-vatory of the Am ericas’. N ew Solutions, a Journal of Environm ental and Occupational Health Policy 12
(1):79-84.
Wh itaker F 2001. Lesson s from Porto A legre. Available
at h t t p :/ / www.for u m socialm u n d ial.or g.br / DI-NAMIC/ eng_balanco_ChicoW.asp
Artigo apresentado em 4/9/2003 Aprovado em 10/10/2003
