Pealkiri:
If I am good enough to breathe this air, I should also be good enough to know its composition : toxic politics and lived experience in the industrial town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen in socialist East Germany / Kui ma olen piisavalt hea, et seda õhku hingata, peaksin olema ka piisavalt hea, et teada selle koostist : mürgine poliitika ja elatud kogemus Bitterfeld-Wolfeni tööstuslinnas sotsialistlikul Ida-Saksamaal
Autor:
Ritter, Luca Liese
Märksõnad:
pollution, knowledge, toxic politics, embodied urban political ecology
Lühikirjeldus:
This thesis examines the socio-political dynamics of industrial pollution in relation to state control and the lived experience of the residents of Bitterfeld-Wolfen during the GDR era. The city’s chemical industry, driven by the regime’s aspirations for progress, generated vast quantities of toxic pollutants, earning it the infamous title of “Europe’s dirtiest city”. The study views pollution as a socio-material issue shaped by power, knowledge and experience, and considers pollution as a toxic politics operating at multiple scales that manifested locally. Drawing on (embodied) urban political ecology, environmental humanities, and feminist scholarship, the study examines the link between (failed) environmental policies and people's perceptions of environmental hazards, and their mutual formation. Despite extensive research on economic and environmental policy in the GDR, the experiences of individuals affected by environmental degradation have received little attention. By analysing Eingaben (citizens’ petitions, often in the form of complaints), the thesis combines structural analysis with lived experience, drawing on Sara Ahmed’s notion of complaints as a phenomenology of institutions. This integrated approach reveals how residents navigate toxic environments and engage with toxic politics through the act of complaining, experiencing a double exposure to pollution and state control systems. This research highlights the critical need to synthesise material, experiential and structural analyses in order to understand and address the complexities of urban pollution effectively.
Väljaandja:
Eesti Kunstiakadeemia
Juhendaja:
Aaloe, Andra; Marzecova, Agáta
Kuupäev:
2024
Tüüp:
Magistritöö
Formaat, olemus:
text
Õppekava:
Urbanistika / Urban Studies
Keel:
inglise
Lisainfo:
text (93 pages)