Title

Access, Oppression, and Social (In)Justice in Epidemic Control: Race, Profession, and Communication in SARS Outbreaks in Canada and Singapore

Author(s)

Huiling Ding, North Carolina State University
Xiaoli Li, University of DaytonFollow
Austin Caldwell Haigler, North Carolina State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Publication Source

Connexions: International Professional Communication Journal

Abstract

This article investigates issues of social injustice experienced by various oppressed groups in SARS outbreaks in 2003, paying particular attention to medical care workers in Canada and Singapore, with many of them being immigrants from East Asia and Southeast Asia. It identifies communication strategies employed by civic networks, especially nonprofit organizations, to help marginalized groups acquire institutional and literacy accesses so that they could respond more effectively to such injustices in complicated and multicultural contexts. Through combined use of Jost and Kay’s work on the three types of social justice (2010), oppression (Young, 1990), and access (Porter, 1998), this study produces rich and multifaceted insights about issues of social injustice in SARS outbreaks. More importantly, it elaborates on the theoretical connections among the three social justice theories and shows possible entry points, particularly the conjunction between process control and informational justice, for professional communicators to produce constructive responses to social injustices and to promote social justice and access for marginalized groups.

Inclusive pages

21-55

ISBN/ISSN

2325-6044

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

This document has been published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) and has been made available for download in accordance with the publisher's policy on open-access.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21310/cnx.4.1.16dinetal

Permission doccumentation on file.

Copyright

Copyright © 2016, The Author(s)

Publisher

New Mexico Tech and the University of Central Arkansas

Volume

4

Issue

1

Peer Reviewed

yes

eCommons Citation

Ding, Huiling; Li, Xiaoli; and Haigler, Austin Caldwell, "Access, Oppression, and Social (In)Justice in Epidemic Control: Race, Profession, and Communication in SARS Outbreaks in Canada and Singapore" (2016). English Faculty Publications. 111.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/eng_fac_pub/111