Of Perpetrators and Victims: Toxicity in Environmental History

Abstract

This forum unites the articles of six scholars whose different, but complementary, approaches shed light on some key themes of the environmental history of toxicity. One recurrent line of questioning asks who is to blame for the steady increase in poisons in the global environment over the past century. While Marco Armiero identifies capitalism as the main driving force, Michelle Mart and Iris Borowy see more deep-seated social and psychological dynamics at work. Simone Müller and Justine Philip take a middle position, while Janelle Lamoreaux does not regard the economic context as particularly relevant at all, pointing instead to the gendered way in which toxicants have been perceived and experienced. In a second, related thread running through the articles, the authors debate how to balance notions of victimization and agency. One approach focuses on the exposure to toxicants suffered by marginalized social groups and nonhuman actors, who are forced to shoulder a disproportionate toxic burden. Another approach highlights the degree to which the release of poisons has not only been an unintended by-product of various activities but also a tool, deliberately used to achieve multiple purposes. Several authors present specific concepts that they have developed as a way to frame various aspects of these discussions, including “wasteocene” (Armiero), the “toxic commons” (Müller), and the “fateful triangle of health” (Borowy). All contributors address the environmental history of toxicants not only as academics but also as participants of a toxin-filled world, both subjects and objects of the developments they analyze.