Metropolitics

From Scientific Uncertainty to Strategic Ignorance

Gwenola Le Naour & Valentin Thomas & translated by Oliver Waine — 2023-11-24T06:00:00Z

In the absence of data, uncertainties about the health risks of industrial pollution abound, and are used by private firms to assert that their activities are not harmful. In this article, Gwenola Le Naour and Valentin Thomas analyze how this “scientific ignorance” is maintained in the “chemical valley” to the south of Lyon in France.
On May 10, 2022, a public meeting was held in Lyon to present the results of an investigation by France Télévisions journalists into perfluorinated pollution

- From the Field / Lyon, pollution, Rhône-Alpes, risk, France, health, industry

Sentinel Territories: A New Concept for Looking at Environmental Change

2020-05-08T05:00:00Z

In this essay, the authors develop the concept of “sentinel territories,” or environments where humans can perceive early warning signs of environmental change. Sentinel territories can illuminate common features of spaces where environmental issues emerge and be used as a tool to advance environmental policies.
This paper attempts to broaden the notion of “sentinel devices,” borrowed from science and technology studies (STS) scholars, to develop the concept of “sentinel territories.”

- Essays / sentinel, sentinel territories, environment, climate change, environmental change, territory, risk, preparedness, mitigation

Haiti after the earthquake: camps, shanty towns and housing shortages

Gerry L'Étang & translated by Oliver Waine — 2012-05-02T09:14:17Z

In Haiti, in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, public squares became the sites of makeshift camps to provide shelter to victims made homeless by the disaster. Since then, their status has changed to become places of hope of justice in the face of the inequalities of a nationwide housing shortage. As in other contexts, occupying public spaces appears to be a means of fighting for the right to housing.
On 12 January 2010 at 4.53 p.m., Haiti suffered the most devastating natural disaster in

- From the Field / camps, catastrophe, refugees, public space, housing, disaster, risk, shanty town, displaced population, Haiti, natural risks

The risk of nuclear accident: a territorial approach

Ambroise Pascal & translated by Oliver Waine — 2012-02-01T08:21:22Z

How many people live in the vicinity of French nuclear power stations? Recent events – notably in Japan, but also in France – highlight the urgent need to be able to predict the possible effects of a nuclear accident on surrounding territories. Here, Ambroise Pascal identifies two key criteria for such an estimation: residential density and land use.
In the foreword of his renowned work Risk Society (1986), sociologist Ulrich Beck declared that the fear induced by technology would create a

- Debates / France, risk, energy, nuclear

Shale Gas: Local Democracy vs Central Government

Pascal Terrasse & translated by Oliver Waine — 2012-01-18T06:00:00Z

Without local consultation, the French government has granted permission for the exploration of shale gas plays across the whole of France – despite the fact that the debate on the environmental consequences of shale gas production, due to the hydraulic fracturing procedure, has highlighted the risk of a catastrophe in ecological and health-related terms in the areas concerned. Pascal Terrasse, leader of Ardèche departmental council, proposes ways to ensure the voices of areas affected are

- Debates / risk, local democracy, territory, energy

The Build/No-Build Line

Richard Campanella — 2011-06-01T05:20:00Z

The Katrina flooding of 2005 ignited a debate between abandonists and maintainers. Should the city move to higher grounds or should it be rebuilt as before? Should concessions be made? If so, where should we draw the line? Richard Campanella explains the arguments behind these positions and why laisser-faire was the ultimate policy, until the next catastrophe.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years This text is the second of two excerpts from Richard Campanella, Bienville's Dilemma:

- From the Field / catastrophe, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, reconstruction, risk, environment, hurricane