Environmental Injustice Case Study Sarnia, Ontario, July 2021
Notes on "Everyday Exposure"
-denial of environmental heath issues, blaming the sick
-box ticking ans cover up, red tape bureaucracy
-"sensing policy": embodied, place-based,relational, responsible
Safe Side Off the Fence
EfeCengizThe documentary is missing because the documentary is as safe as the fence it mocks in its title.
In the beginning we are asked to bear witness to the construction and use of the most devastation weapon of indiscriminate death the world has ever seen, and all the harm the construction of such a tool, yet its construction and its use is justified near instantaneously by repeating the same old propaganda.
In continuation, we are asked to bear witness to the continuous production of similar weapons and the devastation caused by the mishandling of the waste that accumulated in their production, yet why such a production took place is not only left unquestioned, but simple hints of cold war propaganda is left in their places for safekeeping.
In the end, we are asked to bear witness to a sombre victory, same spectres of patriotism and nation-of-God watching over our shoulder, yet how the pitiful situation of being forced to celebrate even such a small victory is never explored.
To sum up, we are shown people, good people, who struggle against the symptoms of a disease, yet this disease itself never named, nor challenged. It could not have been challenged, as it would force a complete change in their discourse.
If we sincerely would like to critique how the bodies of these workers were made disposable; used, harmed, dislocated and discharged as deemed necessary; if we wish to explore this topic as the necropolitical issue it is, we cannot stop halfway through. This inability to stop chasing connections, relationalities wherever it fits our ideology, is not a call for “objectivism”, it’s a call to respect the term of Anthropocene with all its rhizomatic connections.
An investigation of nuclear waste, that does not factor the use of its product, the socio-political effects of said product, and the historical conditions that even led to the possibility of producing it in such ways and such quantities, are of no use for us. It cannot penetrate the barrier of capitalist realism. If it could, at least a single mention of workers unions would have existed. Instead, it has confessionals by atomic weapons lawyers whose heart goes out to these workers.
An America that refuse to face up to the fact that it is what it is by the great necropolitical project it led for hundreds of years, I struggle to accumulate sympathy for, what I can easily accumulate is rage however, which this documentary is missing..
Wish the documentary would have at least attempted to say something radical, instead of praising these disposable bodies for being patriotic about it. There are lives who never had false fences built as idols for safety, the collective idols of old America, the patriotic nation under God were built upon their broken bodies, what would you ask of them?
Joshua Moses
JoshuaI teach anthropology and environmental studies at Haveford College, just outside of Philly. Currently, I'm holed up in a cabin in the Adirondacks in upstate New York with several family members, including my spouse and 4 year old daughter and 3 dogs. I started working on disasters by accident, when one day in 2001 I was walking to class at NYU and saw the World Trade Center buildings on flames. I have known Kim for a few year and I contacted her to connect with folks around Covid-19 and its imacts.
I'm particularly intersted in issues of communal grief, mourning, and bereavement. Also, I'm interested in the religious response to Covid-19.
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Sara_NesheiwatThe American Red Cross has been on the forefront of research and testing, especially when it comes to blood. It was one of the first organizations to implement the testing of infectious diseases and is a single major contributor to clinical trials to improve blood safety according to their site. They were also among the first to develop testing for not only infectious disease, but HIV, Hepatitis B and C, West Nile, and Chagas disease. Currently they are actually working on a study in which they are investigating the blood supply for a tick-borne parasite in donated blood. They often work with the CDC and are always innovating ways to monitor donor blood by way of antibody recognition as well as disease detection and transmission.
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Sara_NesheiwatThis policy was explicitly made for vulnerable populations who couldn't afford or for whatever reason did not have health insurance. The vulnerable parties that did not have health insurance were at risk of being turned away at hospitals during crucial times of need and emergency situations. This act completely absolved the worries and fears of this vulnerable population without health insurance by making it a law that these ED patients were to receive care and stabilization. This act was made for this specific vulnerable population, to prevent discrimination.
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Sara_NesheiwatThere are two authors Andrew Lakoff and Stephen Collier. Andrew Lakoff works at USC and has roughly 40 publications. He is a professor of anthropology, sociology and communication at USC and has written many works with Stephen Collier. Collier has about 36 publications, and is a professor of international affairs at The New School. They are not directly involved in emergency response research but they do a lot of international studies related to medicine and disaster.
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Sara_NesheiwatProfessionals can use this data to better equip themselves with the knowledge of weaknesses of the masses, in terms of what they know or don't know and what they perceive about the Influenza epidemic. Professionals can better identify where most people receive their data from and where they are most likely to get their information from. This will allow professionals to better identify vulnerable groups and better prepare those areas and groups, sculpting educational programs and informational/educational forums and outlets to them, with the hopes of increasing public health efforts.