“Down Here We Rely on Fishing and Oil”: Work Identity and Fishers’ Responses to the BP Oil Spill Disaster

Survey research on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has documented both short-term and longer term effects of the spill and chemical agents on physical, mental, and environmental health, but less is known about how individuals living in and around affected areas make sense of the oil spill disaster. Prior research on disaster describes how people make sense of these events through social, political, and relational processes, yet have not explored the mediating role that work identity might play in the sense-making process. Using in-depth interviews with Louisiana shrimp fishers, I show how interpretations of the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill and its aftermath are fundamentally grounded in work identity. Findings indicate fishers recognize the role BP played in their ongoing health and environmental problems related to the spill. At the same time, they generally view BP as favorable and hold optimistic views regarding their abilities to continue to fish in grounds where they find evidence of the oil spill. Work identity filters how these fishers make sense of their experience and limits the range of responses available to them. This project, thus, centers work within research on the subjective experience of disaster, and further contributes to understanding the socially constructed nature of disaster perceptions and responses.