Based on both archival research and two and a half years of ethnographic fieldwork in an Argentine shantytown with high levels of air, water, and ground contamination, this article examines the social production of environmental uncertainty. First, we dissect residents' perceptions of contamination, finding widespread doubts and mistakes about the polluted habitat. Second, we provide a sociologically informed account of uncertainty and the erroneous perceptions that underlie it. Along with inherent ambiguity surrounding toxic contamination, the generalized confusion about sources and effects of pollution is the result of two factors: (1) the “relational anchoring” of risk perceptions and (2) the “labor of confusion” generated by powerful outside actors. We derive two implications from this ethnographic case study: (1) Cognitive psychology and organizational sociology can travel beyond the boundaries of self-bounded communities and laboratory settings to understand and explain the collective production and reproduction of ignorance, uncertainty, and error. (2) Research on inequality and marginality in general, and in Latin America in particular, should pay close attention to the contaminated spaces where the urban poor live.

Based on 30 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Flammable shantytown, a highly contaminated poor barrio in Argentina, this article examines the links between environmental suffering, social domination, and collective perceptions of time. We show that the ways residents think and feel about (and cope with) pollution are deeply entangled with their perceptions of the past and of the future. We thus argue that an ethnographic account of the lived experiences of contamination should also be a tempography, that is, a thick description of the vernacular sociotemporal order.

Fecha de recepción: enero 2007 Fecha de aceptación y versión final: marzo 2007Resumen Basado en un trabajo etnográfico conjunto realizado en Villa Inflamable (Argentina), este artí-culo examina las percepciones que los habitantes tienen de su habitat contaminado. Utilizando un estudio de caso para explorar la relación entre el espacio objetivo y las representaciones subjetivas (habitat y habitus), este trabajo: a) describe la confusión generalizada que domina las visiones sobre la contaminación, y b) argumenta que esta confusión se traduce en dudas personales, divisiones, estigmas y un continuo tiempo de espera. El trabajo concluye con una especulación empíricamente informada sobre las fuentes de la incertidumbre tóxica.Pa l a b ras clave: contaminación, sufrimiento ambiental, etnografía, experiencia, pobrez a , Argentina. AbstractBased on long-term collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in a shantytown called Flammable located in Argentina, this paper examines residents' perceptions of their highly polluted surroundings. Using a case study to explore the relationship between objective space and subjective representations (habitat and habitus), the paper: a) describes the widespread confusion that dominates shantytown dwellers' views of contamination, and b) argues that this confusion translates into self-doubts, division, stigma, and a continual waiting time. The paper ends with an empirically-grounded speculation regarding the sources of toxic uncertainty.

Based on long-term collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in a shantytown called Flammable (real name) located in Argentina, this article examines residents' perceptions of their highly polluted surroundings. Using a case study to explore the relationship between objective space and subjective representations (habitat and habitus), the article a) describes the widespread confusion that dominates shantytown dwellers' views of contamination, and b) argues that this confusion translates into self-doubts, division, stigma, and a continual waiting time. The article ends with an empirically grounded speculation regarding the sources of toxic uncertainty.

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