Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
This first chapter of the recently published book Crimes That Changed Our World: Tragedy, Outrage, and Reform, examines the process by which the tragic 1911 Triangle Factory Fire provoked enormous outrage that in turn created a local then national movement for workplace and building safety that ultimately became the foundation for today’s building safety codes. What is particularly interesting, however, is that the Triangle Fire was not the worst such tragedy in its day. Why should it be the one that ultimately triggers social progress?
The book has 21 chapters, each of which traces the tragedy-outrage-reform dynamic in a different context: from the war on drugs to the militarization of police, from domestic violence reform to three-strikes sentencing, from the creation of professional medical examiners to the establishment of the 9-1-1 emergency system. As the concluding chapter of the project makes clear, the dynamic of progress has many moving parts not all of which are rational and predictable.
Keywords
Criminal law, law & society, public law & legal theory, trigger crimes, social outrage, politics, legislation, Triangle Shirtwaist, garment workers, immigrant women, fire safety, labor law, workplace safety, reform process, media coverage, political connections, social movements
Publication Title
Triangle Factory Fire: Building Safety Codes, in Crimes That Changed Our World: Tragedy, Outrage, and Reform
Repository Citation
Robinson, Paul H. and Robinson, Sarah M., "CRIMES THAT CHANGED OUR WORLD: TRAGEDY, OUTRAGE, AND REFORM: Chapter One: 1911 Triangle Factory Fire: Building Safety Codes" (2018). All Faculty Scholarship. 2001.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2001
Included in
American Politics Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Commons, Legal History Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Political History Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Public Policy Commons
Publication Citation
1911 Triangle Factory Fire: Building Safety Codes, in Crimes That Changed Our World: Tragedy, Outrage, and Reform (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).