Slow Violence

A violence that is not spectacular or instantaneous but instead incremental, and whose repercussions accrue and are felt over time (years, decades, centuries) (Rob Nixon).

In reference to the chemicals being dumped in the sites/landfills near the homes of people, many chemicals and toxins have been released into the air near these areas (Hsuan Hsu). The pattern in the locations where the waste is being disposed has been found in lower income neighborhoods, and islands that the U.S government believe they have control over. The built up of these toxins are causing the residents of these areas to develop illnesses that spontaneously appear, with no other indication as to what could’ve caused it. This has been an issue occurring over many years and therefore many generations have felt the impact and there haven’t been any changes made (Kathy Jetnil-Jijiner).

 

Further readings:

Hsu, Hsuan L., “Nuclear Colonialism”. Environment and Society Portal, Virtual Exhibitions Rachel Carson Center fro Environment and Society, 2014. 

Jetnil-Kijiner, Kathy. “Iep Jāltok: poems from a Marshallese Daughter”. The University of Arizona Press. 2017.

Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, Noelani. “Protectors of the Future, Not Protesters of the Past: Indigenous Pacific Activism and Mauna a Wākea”. Duke University Press, The South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 116, Issue 1, January 2017.

Johnson, Greg. “Auto-Jurisdiction and Indigenous Futures”. (Course material).

Case Studies:

Old Smokey Trash Incinerator and Campo Kumeyaay Landfill

Slow violence in environmental films