SfAA Panel: Beyond Environmental Injustice
Essay for the double-panel "Beyond Environmental Injustice", 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, March 22-27, 2021.
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Andreas_RebmannInvestigation after large-scale national tragedy is often contaminated with the many factors that surround that event. Since the attack on the World Trade Center was so deeply rooted in politics, culture, international relations and emotional connections, the investigation following the attacks failed to result in a dispassionate, scientific verdict. Instead, it became muddled in the many conflicting and intertwining interests that came with the attack.
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Andreas_RebmannAccording to the Center, due to a compelx system of policies and practices an epidemic of incarceration has occured that has impacted a large population of the United States, particulary those who struggled with addiction, substance abuse, or mental illness. The public health system, especially in relation to prison, has failed to address these issues properly over the past decades. Due to these systemic issues and their symptoms growing in impact and importance, the Center was created. (They didn't go into specific events or even specific issues, general policy and health problems.)
Law does more than codify, regulate, and control; it also catalyzes and transmutes, provoking cascading social and cultural effects, particularly when the force of law is informational.