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?
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Sara.TillDr. Ticktin states in her introduction the report came about through both her personal experience with humanitarian efforts & sexual violence treatment and through supplemental studies. Her bibliography reflects this, and includes multiple studies/reports from humanitarian organizations. Additionally, she utilized multiple independent media sources discussing sexual violence in conflicts, the targeting of female populations, and humanitarian efforts within this realm. The bibliography also includes a multitude of research articles from various human rights journals and publications pertaining to female rights during conflicts.
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Sara.TillThe NPR article appears to be a compilation of interviews (performed by the author and other media sources) with pertinent individuals (public health officials, economics experts) and research from agency reports (US Accountability Office, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti).
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Sara.TillThis article was meant to highlight the gaps in data available for violence against health care/aid workers in unsecured areas. As such, a large portion of the methods segment is dedicated to discussing the difficulties in locating this data and any patterns in data gaps. The primary method of collection, it appears, was through an initial search for peer-reviewed work that transformed into an accumulation of accounts from media, documentary, and editorial reports. It should be noted that some data is available from various organizations, regarding their specific statistics; however, this mainly tends to focus on larger incidents, such as kidnappings and deaths (as mentioned in the paper). There is also some information available through Aid Workers Security Database, but shortcomings in this area are also heavily noted.
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Sara.TillSeveral leaders from various New York State agencies convened to outline plans for this policy. This included Governor Andrew M Cuomo, State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico, Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye, and representatives from health care centers and agencies around the state.