Exposed and Confused Towards an Ethnography of Environmental Suffering

Based on long-term collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in a shantytown called Flammable located in Argentina, this paper examines residents’ perceptions of their highly polluted surroundings. Using a case study to explore the relationship between objective space and subjective representations (habi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Auyero, Javier, Swistun, Débora
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2007
País:Ecuador
Institución:Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales
Repositorio:Revista ICONOS
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:iconos.flacsoandes.edu.ec:article/216
Acceso en línea:https://iconos.flacsoandes.edu.ec/index.php/iconos/article/view/216
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:pollution
environmental suffering
ethnography
experience
poverty
Argentina
contaminación
sufrimiento ambiental
etnografía
experiencia
pobreza
Descripción
Sumario:Based on long-term collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in a shantytown called Flammable located in Argentina, this paper examines residents’ perceptions of their highly polluted surroundings. Using a case study to explore the relationship between objective space and subjective representations (habitat and habitus), the paper: a) describes the widespread confusion that dominates shantytown dwellers’ views of contamination, and b) argues that this confusion translates into self-doubts, division, stigma, and a continual waiting time. The paper ends with an empirically-grounded speculation regarding the sources of toxic uncertainty.