Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown (review)
- Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown
The authors of Flammable, U.S. sociologist Javier Auyero and Argentinean anthropologist Alejandra Swistun, present a study of environmental injustice in an impoverished shantytown located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The ethnography is based on several years of fieldwork in Swistun's home community. Like other researchers, Auyero and Swistun document a case in which hazardous production practices and toxic [End Page 1067] wastes are dispersed to a geographic area inhabited by economically disadvantaged and politically marginalized residents (what Steve Lerner has called "sacrifice zones" in his 2010 book of the same title). Much of the book centers on the authors' attempt to describe how residents cope with their plight and why they have generally failed to mobilize in defense of their right to clean air, water and land.
Flammable (a name given to the community after a 1984 explosion occurred on an oil ship in a nearby canal) is described as "surrounded by one of the largest petrochemical compounds in the country, by a highly polluted river that flows with the toxic waste of tanneries and other industries, by a hazardous waste incinerator, and by an unmonitored landfill."(4) The landscape, homes and bodies of the inhabitants are highly contaminated and the residents are at increased risk for various adverse health conditions. The community was not always contaminated; it was once an area consisting of small farms and fruit orchards, a pristine river and a white-sand beach.
The toxic trail begins in 1931 when Shell Oil located a refinery in the community. Over the decades Flammable became a major dumping ground for various toxic chemicals and the location of other toxic facilities. The community expanded in size as migrants came in search of jobs. These migrants located in a swamp area surrounding the original community and became an underclass despised by many of the older inhabitants.
Residents of the community are exposed to air, water and soil pollution from lead, chromium, benzene and other toxic materials, but they have generally been silent about their plight and failed to protest actively. (The exception being collective action over the location of power lines in 1999.) The docility of the residents (parallels the behavior of the Navaho who were exposed to the risks of uranium mining in the U.S. Southwest, as documented by Judy Pasternak in Yellow Dirt, published in 2010) is the main focus of the book. The authors identify several factors in their attempt to address the question of "How do people make sense of (and cope with) toxic danger?"(4) Their response to this question centers on "dissecting the ways in which diverse powerful actors' striking but contradictory claims about existing hazards shape the availability of information about the origins and effects of toxic contamination and by examining the anchoring of perceptions in the history of a neighborhood and its daily routines and interactions."(9)
The authors report that the older residents of Flammable do not believe they are contaminated or at risk for adverse health conditions. However, these same residents contend that the newer residents are contaminated because of improper child care and poor hygiene practices. Neither Shell Oil nor other industrial actors are blamed for the contamination. In fact, the residents view Shell as a good neighbor that has provided jobs and medical and other services for decades. And, of course, Shell and other culpable actors deny any responsibility for the contamination and have been effective in promoting their case through doctors and local government officials. The authors also note that that the environmental contamination has been incremental and taken years to occur, which further adds to the residents' confusion.
Despite several minor flaws (the literature cited is dated, and the argument has been presented in a more lucid fashion in several journal articles), Flammable is an [End Page 1068] important work. It outlines a story with clarity and conviction, provides insight into how the residents deal with their situation, and how...
