This image informs understandings of the politics of toxics. It implies the enlivening of different kinds of political actions, which work at different scales and aim towards different outcomes. It suggests that the chemical toxification of waterbodies vitalises political activity and conflict, which might be productive of change.
This image is a screenshot of an article published by Time on-line, and this article includes text as well as an image that represents pollution in La Oroya. Although we do not have any information about the date of this article published, the image provides information about the scale of toxicty problem in La Oroya with reference to a survey conducted in 1999. The title of this article refers to the World's Most Polluted Places, which leads me wonder more about the listed other places in addition to La Oroya.
This image, in a general sense, conveys the knowledge about La Oroya, one of the most polluted places in the world. The text and the photo in the image are not easily "read." In the critical commentary, the ethnographer draws attention to the reactions of local residents to the representation of their place as it is done in this Time article. I wonder whether the ethnographer would like to modify it a bit in one way or another to "place" residents' reactions ("angers") in the image.
The concept "becoming" may hinder the history of pollution in La Oroya; thus, the author may want to use quotation mark: "world's most polluted place"
This visualization presents the representation of La Oroya as being of the world's most polluted places. The critical commentary/ethnograher's gaze use this representation as a point of controversy.
This visualization speaks to the ways in which toxicity becomes public and what such becoming entails: the counting of affected populations, the naming of toxic elements, the identification of the source of pollution. Toxicity is not only mapped but also ranked. Toxicity is a social process, as it is material. Some toxicities become (visible) by receiving public attention, and such attention may produce toxic social relations: in this case, between local communities and international environmental agents.
I think opening with a question is always a provocative way to start any text. I love the title “becoming a world’s most polluted place” and I would, perhaps, dwell a bit more on the becoming in the extended caption.
This is a screenshot of a TIME magazine note of 2007 (the date is not evident). It is informative and draws attention to La Oroya's place in the global landscape of toxic places.
Because the image is a list of the most polluted places in the world, the author could present visually (for example, through a collage or visual juxtaposition) the other places to which La Oroya is linked by the empirical work of these environmental organizations. There is something about global toxicity, which is nonetheless deeply local, in this image/article.
The caption does a great job of describing how La Oroya emerged in the map of toxic places, and the image provides an illustration of such emergence. The argument does not stop there: becoming global toxic place provoked toxic social relations between those concern with the environment and toxicity and those who live amidst and work in the metallurgic industry. Toxicity prevented alliance.
