한국 노동안전보건운동의 전개: 노동안전 시민권의 형성과 전환을 중심으로

Occupational health and safety(OHS) movement played an important rolein the formation of OHS citizenship in Korea, and ‘politics of expertise’ hasbeen operating in this process. At the initial stage, formation of OHScitizenship was driven by ‘top-down’ approach, which was the labor forcemanagement strategy of the government to relieve industrial accidents, andto promote industrialization. But early OHS movement driven by ‘bottom-up’approach challenged this process and tried to build a different kind of OHScitizenship. Meanwhile, medical professionals played a leading role in earlyOHS movement. But in course of time, the initiative in OHS movementshifted from medical professionals to labor unions, and labor unionssystematically organized the OHS movement in the era of KTUC and KCTU. In this period, the relationship between experts and rank-and-file workersalso changed from ‘mobilizing external alternative experts’ model to‘cultivating OHS activists by unions themselves and coalition with externalalternative experts’ model. Before long, the weakening of unionism due tothe economic crisis in 1997 and labor market flexibilization accompanied bytemporary decline and internal discord of OHS movement. During this time,there were fierce debates on expertise and institutionalization of OHSbetween OHS activists. But some attempts at the local level took thisopportunity to extend ‘workers’ right to participate’ to shop-floor level. After a series of experiences, OHS movement insists that workers have towiden their territory, and to act more proactively. OHS citizenship focusedon the right to labor narrowly is now being transformed into a new extendedcitizenship emphasizing civil virtue.