The Contribution of Green Criminology to the Analysis of Historical Pollution

A sensory and visual approach for comprehending environmental victimization by the asbestos industry in Casale Monferrato

“…In our qualitative research, which explores the case of asbestos contamination in Casale Monferrato (Italy), the experiences of environmental injustice are rooted in the participants' biography, in their lives and in their bodies, within a socially constructed and structured context. 3 In the case of environmental crimes and harms -which may include violations of human rights (Carrabine et al, 2000) -the temporal horizon expands to encompass their long-term consequences, above all in the forms of injustice and victimization (Natali, 2013a(Natali, , 2015(Natali, , 2017; see also Visconti, 2018). It is in this space that the role of the 'visual scholar', who studies the perceptions of environmental victimization, can contribute to creating a reflexive and critical distance, initiating public dialogues thanks also to visual and sensorial methods (see also Brown, 2017).…”

Seeping Ugly

“…There are two very important appendages built into this definition that are essential for appreciating and accounting for historical pollution's complexity, time and causation (Rotolo, 2017;Natali, 2017). According to established scholarship, the temporal dimension of historical pollution refers to the chronological distance in time between the beginning of the polluting behaviour and the point at which this behaviour is observed or acknowledged (Rotolo, 2017).…”

“…Natali (2017, pg. 39) argues that a "historical-geographical reconstruction" is essential in developing a solution to an instance of historical pollution due to the changes in production and the development of different production materials and processes over time (Natali, 2017). As the means of production change, so to do the commodities which are produced, the changing processes of production consequently precipitates different forms of pollution that will then effect the environment and its inhabitants differently.…”

“…The final point of discussion from the historical pollution literature relevant to this present research is a discussion regarding the social awareness and experience of historical pollution (Natali, 2017). Natali asserts that:…”

“…This is the experiential aim of the thesis. The research additionally identifies the methods employed by national and local authorities to obscure and confuse the potential for harms associated with the legacy landfill pollution (Natali, 2017), adopting agnotological and ainigmological frameworks, which describe the processes by which ignorance, confusion and obfuscation are produced, to do so. It attempts to advance the issue of attributing responsibility and culpability within instances of historical pollution, a line of causation that is fettered by the passage of time and subsequent changes in bureaucratic structures.…”