Political Ecologies of Waste: Salvaged Livelihoods and Infra-structural Labour

by Benjamin Irvine Solid waste is often seen as an environmental problem to be solved through change of behaviour and recycling. Political ecology can sharpen our analysis of the politics involved in the way materials move through the economy. Prospects for reducing the amount of solid waste generated and ambitions for a “circular economy” will …

Night of the Living ‘Things’: Zombie Archaeology

by Eric Fleischmann Capitalist societies produce more stuff than ever before but all these things are quickly discarded. Rubbish becomes part of topography and ecological systems, eventually returning to humans. When the remnants of our past return to us by themselves with a vengeance, this is zombie archaeology. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “archaeology” as …

Trashopolis! Storytelling, waste research and glocal conflicts

by Salvatore De Rosa This is a very personal account of an ethnographic immersion in the epicenter of an environmental conflict of huge proportions. That happens to be, at the same time, the place where I was born. It is an attempt at connecting the dots between individual existence, collective destinies and glocal ecological transformations. …

Campania grassroots movements: lessons from 15 years of environmental struggle

Social mobilizations in Campania are changing the political, economic, cultural and ecological landscapes of the region. Their strategies and practices draw a path of resistance and reappropriation that can inspire environmental movements in Italy and elsewhere. The 15 year-long grassroots mobilizations, which emerged in reaction to waste (mis)management and illegal disposal in the Campania region of Southern Italy, represent …

Drivers of illegal waste disposal: the case of Campania, Italy

Illegal economic practices are often labeled as aberrations of the market logic, but few realize their role in sustaining capitalist accumulation and power hierarchies. Uncovering the drivers of illegal waste disposal in Campania demonstrates that illicit and legal economies are often intertwined and mutually beneficial.* Prologue The Pellini Group is a family-run company managed by the three Pellini brothers, …

The Political Ecology of Everyday Life under Settler Colonialism I – Reporting from Palestine

In July 2015 a group of ENTITLE fellows travelled to Palestine to attend the International Conference of Critical Geography in Ramallah. The following piece is the first part of a series on the political ecology of life under settler colonialism in the West Bank. ENTITLE in Palestine The International Conference of Critical Geography, which took …

When companies leave: environmental liabilities and the Flix Electrochemical Company in Catalonia

by Marta Pujadas* The one hundred-year old Flix electrochemical company is about to leave. What will happen now that the long-term impacts on human health and the environment are no longer compensated by short-term economic gains? EQF (Electroquímica de Flix) is a chemical company founded in 1897 in Flix, a village in the Ribera d'Ebre, …

La economía circular o la invención del círculo

by Jesús Ramos Martín* ¿Para qué y cuánto crecer? Y sobre todo ¿a qué coste? La propuesta de la economía circular no es nueva y contribuye a desviar el debate acerca del crecimiento económico y sus consecuencias. Últimamente oímos hablar bastante de economía circular en las discusiones acerca del desarrollo económico y su interacción con …

Travelling through the contaminated territories of Campania

by Ilenia Iengo* The polluted fields of the Campania region in Southern Italy are infamous as the outcomes of two decades of urban and industrial waste mismanagement. There, struggles for environmental justice are also struggles for reclaiming dignity. Acerra, Giugliano, Chiaiano. In this order, on December 14 2014, a delegation of international researchers, journalists and activists have met and discussed …

Interview with researcher Salvatore Paolo De Rosa on the Campania waste conflict

by Giorgos Velegrakis The interview was originally given to Giorgos Velegrakis for the greek environmental magazine Oikotrives Giorgos Velegrakis (G.V.): We know that over a lot of years now an area of Campania became the trashcan of Italy. How did it all start? Salvatore Paolo De Rosa (S.P.):The area of Campania that suffered the most …