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Human Relations
http://hum.sagepub.com The regulation of smoking at work
Joanna Brewis and Christopher Grey Human Relations 2008; 61; 965 DOI: 10.1177/0018726708093904 The online version of this article can be found at: http://hum.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/61/7/965

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Human Relations DOI: 10.1177/0018726708093904 Volume 61(7): 965–987 Copyright © 2008 The Tavistock Institute ® SAGE Publications Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore http://hum.sagepub.com

The regulation of smoking at work
Joanna Brewis and Christopher Grey

A B S T R AC T

Smoking was for most of the 20th century a normal part of everyday life in western society, including work organizations. Within a very short space of time it has become much less acceptable in the workplace and, in many countries, banned altogether. Why has this happened? This article seeks to answer this question. Although the main legislative basis of these bans is the health and safety of employees, we argue that the issues at stake are in fact more complex. Smoking, we contend, should be understood as a practice with diverse cultural meanings, and its regulation located within the context of a longstanding and dynamic moral discourse, of which scientific and medical discourse is only one aspect. In so doing we seek to open up a significant gap in the social scientific and organization studies literature for future analysis.

K E Y WO R D S

moral discourse regulation scientific...