Flammable : Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown

Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology, Sociology
Cover of the book Flammable : Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun ISBN: 9780199888269
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: March 11, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA Language: English
Author: Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
ISBN: 9780199888269
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: March 11, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English

Surrounded by one of the largest petrochemical compounds in Argentina a highly polluted river that brings the toxic waste of tanneries and other industries a hazardous and largely unsupervised waste incinerator and an unmonitored landfill Flammable's soil air and water are contaminated with lead chromium benzene and other chemicals. So are its nearly five thousand sickened and frail inhabitants. How do poor people make sense of and cope with toxic pollution? Why do they fail to understand what is objectively a clear and present danger? How are perceptions and misperceptions shared within a community? Based on archival research and two and a half years of collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in Flammable this book examines the lived experiences of environmental suffering. Despite clear evidence to the contrary residents allow themselves to doubt or even deny the hard facts of industrial pollution. This happens the authors argue through a "labor of confusion" enabled by state officials who frequently raise the issue of relocation and just as frequently suspend it; by the companies who fund local health care but assert that the area is unfit for human residence; by doctors who say the illnesses are no different from anywhere else but tell mothers they must leave the neighborhood if their families are to be cured; by journalists who randomly appear and focus on the most extreme aspects of life there; and by lawyers who encourage residents to hold out for a settlement. These contradictory actions advice and information work together to shape the confused experience of living in danger and ultimately translates into a long ineffective and uncertain waiting time a time dictated by powerful interests and shared by all marginalized groups. With luminous and vivid descriptions of everyday life in the neighborhood Auyero and Swistun depict this on-going slow motion human and environmental disaster and dissect the manifold ways in which it is experienced by Flammable residents.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Surrounded by one of the largest petrochemical compounds in Argentina a highly polluted river that brings the toxic waste of tanneries and other industries a hazardous and largely unsupervised waste incinerator and an unmonitored landfill Flammable's soil air and water are contaminated with lead chromium benzene and other chemicals. So are its nearly five thousand sickened and frail inhabitants. How do poor people make sense of and cope with toxic pollution? Why do they fail to understand what is objectively a clear and present danger? How are perceptions and misperceptions shared within a community? Based on archival research and two and a half years of collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in Flammable this book examines the lived experiences of environmental suffering. Despite clear evidence to the contrary residents allow themselves to doubt or even deny the hard facts of industrial pollution. This happens the authors argue through a "labor of confusion" enabled by state officials who frequently raise the issue of relocation and just as frequently suspend it; by the companies who fund local health care but assert that the area is unfit for human residence; by doctors who say the illnesses are no different from anywhere else but tell mothers they must leave the neighborhood if their families are to be cured; by journalists who randomly appear and focus on the most extreme aspects of life there; and by lawyers who encourage residents to hold out for a settlement. These contradictory actions advice and information work together to shape the confused experience of living in danger and ultimately translates into a long ineffective and uncertain waiting time a time dictated by powerful interests and shared by all marginalized groups. With luminous and vivid descriptions of everyday life in the neighborhood Auyero and Swistun depict this on-going slow motion human and environmental disaster and dissect the manifold ways in which it is experienced by Flammable residents.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book The Oxford History Of Mexico by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Where the Conflict Really Lies : Science, Religion, and Naturalism by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book The Oxford History of Islam by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book The Glorious Cause:The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Mind and Cosmos:Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Transforming the Twentieth Century:Technical Innovations and Their Consequences by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Genius Unmasked by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture:The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Trading and Exchanges:Market Microstructure for Practitioners by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Water Music : Making Music In The Spas Of Europe And North America by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Rebels Rising : Cities and the American Revolution by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Of Arms and Men : A History of War Weapons and Aggression by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book The Caucasus:An Introduction by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Desert Christians:An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
Cover of the book Polio:An American Story by Javier Auyero;Debora Alejandra Swistun
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy