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Places of decision and flows of power: Disentangling petrochemical corporate networks

Dr Thomas Verbeek, University of Warwick @thverbeek In our contemporary globalized economy, it is increasingly complex to disentangle the relationships between different places, different companies and different products. Through global production networks, globally operating conglomerates, global elite networks as well as through all kinds of inter-firm alliances such as joint ventures and license agreements, different … Continue reading Places of decision and flows of power: Disentangling petrochemical corporate networks

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The Existential Crisis of the Petrochemical Industry and Discourses of Sustainability: Reflections from the 34th World Petrochemical Conference

Dr. David Brown, University of Warwick @browndee17 In recent years, a backlash against plastics has been observed in the public sphere, with plastics as a commodity seen to be losing its ‘social licence’. Plastic waste has emerged as an environmental crisis in public discourse, considered to be pervasive and indomitable. According to the UN (2017), … Continue reading The Existential Crisis of the Petrochemical Industry and Discourses of Sustainability: Reflections from the 34th World Petrochemical Conference

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Petrochemical Landscapes: A European Perspective

Dr Calvin Jephcote, University of Warwick Petroleum has been the fuel for dramatic change in the twentieth century, as a source of energy it has revolutionised transport and powered technological advances, but as a chemical it has also enabled humankind to engineer synthetic environments.  The petrochemical industry was initially created from the desire to commoditise … Continue reading Petrochemical Landscapes: A European Perspective

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Book Review: Quando il potere è operaio: Autonomia e soggettività politica a Porto Marghera (1960-1980)

Dr Lorenzo Feltrin, University of Warwick @lorenzo_feltrin This year marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of Quando il potere è operaio: Autonomia e soggettività politica a Porto Marghera (1960-1980) (edited by Devi Sacchetto and Gianni Sbrogiò, 2009, Roma: Manifestolibri), translatable as “When Power is Workers’ Power: Autonomy and Political Subjectivity in Porto Marghera (1960-1980)”. … Continue reading Book Review: Quando il potere è operaio: Autonomia e soggettività politica a Porto Marghera (1960-1980)

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‘Village Besieged’: An Elegy for Victims and Protest Against Taiwan’s Petrochemical Pollution

Loretta Lou, University of Macau / London School of Economics Even though it is becoming more and more common for musicians to take on the issue of environmental degradation in the age of Anthropocene, to produce an album about a particular kind of toxic pollution is literally unheard-of until Taiwanese indie rock band Sheng-Xiang & … Continue reading ‘Village Besieged’: An Elegy for Victims and Protest Against Taiwan’s Petrochemical Pollution

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Toxic Geographies: chemical plants, plantations, and plants that will not grow

Dr Thom Davies, University of Nottingham, @ThomDavies Prelude: Some of the ideas discussed in this Toxic News piece are explored further in two recent academic publications, available here and here (Open Access). In September 2017, I returned to Louisiana to continue ethnographic research about lived experiences in a region infamously nicknamed ‘Cancer Alley’ – home to the … Continue reading Toxic Geographies: chemical plants, plantations, and plants that will not grow

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Editorial: Environmental justice and the embodied, lived experiences of toxic pollution

Dr David Brown, Research Assistant, University of Warwick The disproportionate impacts of toxic pollution have been well documented in environmental justice research, with marginalised, low-income and minority communities tending to bear the greatest burdens of industrial pollution. Environmental justice researchers have contributed significant insights into the myriad forms of injustice associated with the uneven benefits … Continue reading Editorial: Environmental justice and the embodied, lived experiences of toxic pollution

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The Toxic Relationship between Fracked Gas Liquids and Plastics

Diane M. Sicotte, Ph.D. Drexel University Department of Sociology diane.sicotte@drexel.edu The current worldwide boom in natural gas extraction is due to the new hydrofracturing (fracking) method, even though there is ample scientific evidence that fracking creates extreme risks to human and ecosystem health.[1] The production of plastics and the proliferation of plastic waste poses risks … Continue reading The Toxic Relationship between Fracked Gas Liquids and Plastics

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Seattle’s Segregated Riskscape

Troy D. Abel (Huxley College of the Environment on the Peninsulas, Western Washington University) Jonah White (Department of Geography, Michigan State University) Stacy Clauson (Department of Environmental Studies, Western Washington University) Emilio’s voice cracked in response to our air pollution experience question. He’s one of Seattle’s thousands of soccer dads. Emilio recounted smelling and tasting … Continue reading Seattle’s Segregated Riskscape