Rare Earthenware: photography, pottery, and pollution

Explore the toxic geographies of ‘rare earth’ minerals with this original collaborative project Dr Thom Davies, Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick @ThomDavies The device that you are staring at contains Rare Earth: minerals that help construct the digital devices of our late-modern lives. Though often unrecognized, rare earth metals are […]

Graveyard of Giants: the Toxic Afterlives of Ships

Explore the hazardous world of ship-breaking with photographer Jan Møller Hansen Dr Thom Davies, Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick @ThomDavies As maritime geographer Kimberley Peters writes, ‘ships and the sea occupy the edges of our consciousness; they are largely invisible and seemingly irrelevant in our everyday lives.’ And yet, as she continues,

Treasure: Landscapes of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Paul Shambroom visualises the invisible landscapes of the US oil reserve Dr Thom Davies, Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick @ThomDavies In his artistic statement quoted below, photographer Paul Shambroom asks: ‘How does one photograph something that can’t be seen?’ This is a fundamental question at the heart of all the

Voyage on the planet: contemplating pollution with Chih Chiu

Read an interview and photo essay about Chih Chiu’s thought provoking work Dr Thom Davies, Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick @ThomDavies Some photographers and artists simply document pollution. They bare witness to the many social injustices that toxicity produces. In that witnessing there is the hope, at least, that opinions

Toxic Expertise Annual Workshop 2018

An overview of the 3rd annual Toxic Expertise workshop Dr Loretta Lou, Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick On 15-16 May 2018, the Toxic Expertise team held its third annual workshop at the Arden Conference Centre, University of Warwick. Funded by the European Research Council and the European Union’s Horizon 2020

Editorial – The (In)visibility of Fireworks Pollution

Dr. Loretta Lou, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick Each year, capital cities around the world welcome the new year with spectacular fireworks displays. Although few of us would associate this annual tradition with environmental pollution, scientists have found that fireworks are responsible for high concentrations of airborne particles that are more toxic than from

Translating Toxic Exposure: Taiwan RCA

Featured Image: In front of the Taipei High Court, 27 October 2017. On the banners: “Another victory [for the plaintiffs]! Now pay compensation!” “Regrets” [for victims already deceased] Photo: Jung-lung Chang Paul Jobin, Hsin-hsing Chen, Yi-ping Lin[1] In her last editorial in Toxic News, Alice Mah raised the importance of translation in issues of environmental justice.

毒物暴露案件的多重翻譯:台灣RCA經驗

彭保羅,中央研究院社會學研究所副研究員 陳信行,世新大學社會發展研究所教授 林宜平,陽明大學科技與社會研究所副教授兼所長 翻譯:蔡億穎,台灣大學哲學系 在本網站Toxic News最近的一篇「編者的話」裡,Alice Mah 指出「翻譯」(translation)在環境正義的議題中扮演了重要角色。在此,我們想用在台灣自 1998 年開始動員,直到最近剛在法庭上贏得勝利的台灣美國無線電公司(台灣RCA)前僱員的集體行動經驗來探討翻譯的多重性。整個運動過程裡,身為具有 STS 研究背景的社會科學家的我們,與原告及律師團持續維持十餘年的密切交流,包含:匯聚不同領域的專家(流行病學家、毒理學家、環境工程師等)一同進入動員行列、蒐集來自不同國家的數據與資料、投入嚴謹的翻譯工作(從英文、法文、日文到中文),以及幫助勞工朋友將自身的經驗和醫學證據翻譯為法律因果關係。   對毒物暴露受害者的開創性判決 2017 年 10 月 27 日,台灣高等法院在這樁 RCA 前員工──其中大部分是女性──對抗雇主及其母公司的毒物侵權集體訴訟上,給出了指標性的判決。經過長達十九年的纏鬥,工人們終於在這天得到一個對他們有利、並且具有開創性的裁定。這個裁定也許可以成為其他類似毒物侵權集體訴訟的先例,同時也藉此激勵世界各地身處環境不正義的受害者。判決書指明幾個迄今阻撓受害者取得應有正義的因素,例如:化學暴露的複雜病理學因果關係,以及覆蓋在資本全球化時代的「公司面紗」(corporate veil)等。   本文作者(由左至右:林宜平、陳信行、彭保羅)恭賀原告們和律師團獲得勝訴。於台灣高等法院,2017/10/27。(攝影:張榮隆) 台灣高等法院認為,四家被告公司對這些因為長期暴露於許多有害化學物質而導致健康受損及承受精神傷害的罹病工人負有責任。這四家被告公司分別為:自 1970 至 1992 年間設廠台灣,生產外銷給美國市場電視及相關產品的美國無線電公司(RCA),及母公司美商奇異(General Electric, GE);另外還有控股公司法國 Thomson Consumer Electronics(後來的Technicolor SA),及其設在百慕達的子公司。法院判決他們賠償 7.184 億台幣(約合 2370 萬美元),給 513 名原告中的 486 位,他們都是台灣RCA的前員工或是過世員工的家屬。 律師團代表林永頌律師,將判決要點翻譯為較簡白的國語。於台灣高等法院,2017/10/27。 (攝影:張榮隆) 如同在大多數職業疾病和污染爭議中常見的,台灣 RCA 的受害者暴露於多種混合的有害化學物質中。法院裁定中提及的 31 種,也包括已被世界衛生組織國際癌症研究署(IARC)分類為「人類致癌物」的三氯乙烯和苯。在過去無數的毒物侵權案件裡,法院採取的皆是「單一化學物質導致單一疾病」的因果關係。然而,實際上更為複雜的作用機制與因果關係,常讓員工非法暴露於危險化學物質的公司,規避責任。在美國「Daubert 標準」的實施,毒物侵權的受害者難以證明相對簡單的因果關係(Jasanoff 1995,Cranor 2016)。本案最主要的突破點就在於,法官裁定 RCA

The Chinese Government Should Support Small Scale Agriculture for a Green China

Rowan Alcock, DPhil candidate in Politics, University of Oxford If China truly wants to be the leader in the global effort to avoid the worst effects of climate change, it needs to once again look at the rural as the place for revolutionary answers. China’s rapid growth has, to a large extent, been sustained and

Revisiting the Air Pollution Crisis in China – a lesson on toxicity, sociality and humanity

Fangfang Li ,Universiteit van Amsterdam, Department of Anthropology, United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health A Toxic Smog Crisis In 2017, China faced a renewed smog crisis, even worse than similar situations in past years. Most of the country was affected, including southern regions previously considered ‘safe’ from air pollution (e.g., Guangzhou). Smog consists

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