Special Section: Tracing narratives and perceptions in the political ecologies of health and disease, edited by C. Connolly, P. Kotsila, and G. Panagiota

Political ecology of health in the Land of Fires: a hotspot of environmental crimes in the south of Italy

Authors: Giacomo D'Alisa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) , Anna Rita Germani (University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy) , Pasquale Marcello Falcone (Unitelma Sapienza, Italy) , Piergiuseppe Morone (Unitelma Sapienza, Italy)

  • Political ecology of health in the Land of Fires: a hotspot of environmental crimes in the south of Italy

    Special Section: Tracing narratives and perceptions in the political ecologies of health and disease, edited by C. Connolly, P. Kotsila, and G. Panagiota

    Political ecology of health in the Land of Fires: a hotspot of environmental crimes in the south of Italy

    Authors: , , ,

Abstract

Environmental crimes, if they are perceived as victimless, have not received the appropriate governmental response and have been frequently ranked low on the law enforcement priority list, punished with lenient or no administrative sanctions. This has contributed to an underestimation of the immediate consequences of environmental crimes, which can go undetected for lengthy periods. On the contrary, the mismanagement and illegal trafficking of waste in the Land of Fires, an area in the Campania region in the South of Italy, has been experienced as a 'victimful' crime. Using a political ecology of health approach, and integrating qualitative and quantitative methods, we investigate how the perception of being a victim of waste-related environmental crimes has been magnified by evidence of serious disease outcomes. Health concerns have become a central issue in the resurgence of grassroots movements against waste mismanagement in Campania.

Keywords: Environmental crime, political ecology of health, waste conflict, Campania

How to Cite:

D'Alisa, G. & Germani, A. R. & Falcone, P. M. & Morone, P., (2017) “Political ecology of health in the Land of Fires: a hotspot of environmental crimes in the south of Italy”, Journal of Political Ecology 24(1), 59-86. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/v24i1.20782

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Published on
27 Sep 2017
Peer Reviewed