The politicization of ill bodies in Campania, Italy

The communities affected by toxic contamination in Campania, Italy, have had to confront the challenge of proving a direct causal connection between exposure to pollutants and health issues, given a long history of mismanagement of waste. Medical studies have been conducted, but the social and political debate is static. In September 2014, the Italian Ministry of Health simply repeated earlier statements that Campania's increasing cancer rates are due to poor lifestyle habits. The article casts light on the politicization of ill bodies of Campania. We analyze three practices of political action and resistance which employed the subjectivization of physical bodies and illnesses to expose environmental injustice affecting communities. In the neighborhood of Pianura, Naples, people gathered medical records as evidence for a trial into 'culpable epidemics.' In the so-called Land of Fires, in the northern periphery of Naples, hundreds of postcards featuring pictures of children killed by rare pathologies were sent to the Italian Head of State and the Pope. Finally, in the town of Acerra, the blood of a dying shepherd became a political object to prove exposure to dioxin contamination in that area. The politicization of illness and bodies conflates the public and private, challenges the mainstream production of knowledge, and proposes an alternative narrative for affected communities and individuals. Nevertheless, the practices of this politicization have differed and are not always 'political', as we will show through the three cases.Les communautés affectées par la contamination toxique en Campanie, en Italie, ont dû faire face au défi de prouver un lien de causalité direct entre l'exposition aux polluants et les problèmes de santé, compte tenu d'une longue histoire de mauvaise gestion des déchets. Des études médicales ont été menées, mais le débat social et politique est statique. En septembre 2014, le ministère italien de la Santé a tout simplement répété des déclarations antérieures selon lesquelles les taux croissants de cancer en Campanie sont dus à de mauvaises habitudes de vie. L'article éclaire la politisation des corps malades de la Campanie. Nous analysons trois pratiques d'action politique et de résistance qui utilisaient la subjectivisation des corps physiques et des maladies pour exposer les injustices environnementales qui affectent les communautés. Dans le voisinage de Pianura, Naples, les gens ont rassemblé des dossiers médicaux comme preuve pour un procès en «épidémies coupables». Dans le pays de Fires, dans la périphérie nord de Naples, des centaines de cartes postales contenant des photos d'enfants tués par des pathologies rares ont été envoyées au chef de l'État italien et au pape. Enfin, dans la ville d'Acerra, le sang d'un berger mourant est devenu un objet politique pour prouver l'exposition à la contamination par les dioxines dans cette zone. La politisation des maladies et des corps confond le public et le privé, remet en question la production traditionnelle de connaissances et propose un récit alternatif pour les communautés et les individus touchés. Néanmoins, les pratiques de cette politisation ont divergé et ne sont pas toujours «politiques», comme nous le montrerons à travers les trois cas.Las comunidades afectadas por la contaminación tóxica en Campania, Italia, han tenido que enfrentar el reto de demostrar una relación causal directa entre la exposición a los contaminantes y problemas de salud, dada una larga historia de mala gestión de residuos. Aunque se han realizado estudios médicos, el debate social y político ha estado estático. En septiembre de 2014, el Ministerio de Sanidad italiano se limitó a repetir declaraciones anteriores de que el aumento de las tasas de cáncer de Campania es debido a los malos costumbres de vida. El artículo arroja luz sobre la politización de los cuerpos enfermos de Campania. Se analizan tres prácticas de acción política y resistencia que emplearon la subjetivación de cuerpos físicos y de enfermedades para exponer la injusticia ambiental que afecta a las comunidades. En el barrio de Pianura, Nápoles, la gente ha recolectado los registros médicos como prueba para un ensayo en 'epidemias culpables'. En la llamada Tierra de los Fuegos, en la periferia norte de Nápoles, cientos de postales con imágenes de niños muertos por patologías raras fueron enviados al Jefe de Estado italiano y el Papa. Por último, en el municipio de Acerra, la sangre de un pastor agonizante se convirtió en un objeto político para demostrar la exposición a la contaminación por dioxinas en esa zona. La politización de la enfermedad y los cuerpos mezcla lo público con lo privado, se opone a la producción de conocimiento convencional, y propone una narrativa alternativa para las comunidades y los individuos afectados. Sin embargo, las prácticas de este politización han sido bastante diferente y no siempre políticas, como se verá a través de los tres casos

Undisciplined enviroments.

For 4 days, from the 20th to the 24th of March 2016, about 500 people among scholars, activists, and artists convened in Stockholm for Undisciplined Environments, the International Conference of the European Network of Political Ecology (ENTITLE)

Tales from Pianura : the construction of a social dump and its resisting community

Through the lens of urban political ecology and environmental justice framework, this master thesis project investigates the history and creation of Pianura as the social dump of the city of Napoli, Italy and the grievances and forms of resistance that its citizens undertook, at the peak of a 20 years long waste crisis, when the top-down decision of re-opening the facility was envisioned. The neighbourhood is sited at the outskirts of the metropolis and is historically identified with a polluting landfill, illegal building and Camorra’s control. This thesis will explore how multiple actors and groups narrated, existed and resisted in Pianura's social milieu, each with their context-embedded memories, narratives and ideals of mobilization and justice. The crucial and focal experience through which the story is uncovered is the epiphany of the riot, as the resisting community's complex response to the manifest State-led violence of 2008, that came after years of structural, slow and discoursive violence. Through an in depth ethnographic action research project, the work explores the oral histories and narratives of those involved in the contestations against the reopening of the local landfill and the activists struggles to counter the silencing of the historical marginalization and construction of Pianura as a social dump. The thesis proposes that the construction of a subaltern resisting community and identity is discursively and materially constructed on that the very battlefield of the struggle through the re-examination and narration of the history. Moreover, the thesis will suggest why Pianura's subversive stories and toxic narratives should be framed within the larger and global network of environmental justice movements, specifically as subaltern environmentalism.M-IE

The politicization of ill bodies in Campania, Italy

Abstract The communities affected by toxic contamination in Campania, Italy, have had to confront the challenge of proving a direct causal connection between exposure to pollutants and health issues, given a long history of mismanagement of waste. Medical studies have been conducted, but the social and political debate is static. In September 2014, the Italian Ministry of Health simply repeated earlier statements that Campania's increasing cancer rates are due to poor lifestyle habits. The article casts light on the politicization of ill bodies of Campania. We analyze three practices of political action and resistance which employed the subjectivization of physical bodies and illnesses to expose environmental injustice affecting communities. In the neighborhood of Pianura, Naples, people gathered medical records as evidence for a trial into 'culpable epidemics.' In the so-called Land of Fires, in the northern periphery of Naples, hundreds of postcards featuring pictures of children killed by rare pathologies were sent to the Italian Head of State and the Pope. Finally, in the town of Acerra, the blood of a dying shepherd became a political object to prove exposure to dioxin contamination in that area. The politicization of illness and bodies conflates the public and private, challenges the mainstream production of knowledge, and proposes an alternative narrative for affected communities and individuals. Nevertheless, the practices of this politicization have differed and are not always 'political', as we will show through the three cases. Key words: popular epidemiology, biopower, waste, Campania, political ecology of disease, private is politica

Caring Communities for Radical Change: What Can Feminist Political Ecology Bring to Degrowth?

In this chapter, we share the insights of feminist political ecology (FPE) for degrowth, building from the debates on “caring communities for radical change” at the 8th International Degrowth Conference in August 2021. We discuss how FPE links to the principles of degrowth as an academic and activist movement and why it is necessary to take feminist political ecology perspectives on care and caring communities in resisting, questioning, and counteracting the structural racial, gender, and wider social inequalities that uphold and are perpetuated by growth-dependent economic systems. As we critically reflect on the experiences of paid versus unpaid, collectivised versus feminised care work, we argue that care is crucial to social and ecological reproduction in order to build just, sustainable and convivial societies