Abstract
Australian newspapers, like those in other first-world countries, valorise fire-fighters through images more typically associated with heroic blue-collar ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"battlersââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â: sweat, ash, uniforms and firestorms, punctuated with tales of heroic deeds and personal sacrifice. Yet increasingly, much of the work of fire-fighters is associated with the grunt of ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"clean workââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ report writing, community engagement, prevention and recovery activities, and so on. This paper considers the changing nature of career fire-fighters' work in one fire-fighting organisation in Australia, and the rising importance of ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"cleanââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ white-collar work to emergency management.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Disaster Prevention and Management |
Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Keywords
- Australia
- disasters
- fire fighters
- labour