Auyero Javier - Flammable environmental suffering in an Argentine shantytown

FLAMMABLE

Environmental Suffering
in an Argentine Shantytown

JAVIER AUYERO
AND
DBORA ALEJANDRA SWISTUN

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Auyero, Javier.
Flammable : environmental suffering in an Argentine
shantytown / Javier Auyero and Dbora Alejandra Swistun.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-537294-6; 978-0-19-537293-9 (pbk.)
1. SlumsArgentinaBuenos Aires Metropolitan Area.
2. PoorArgentinaBuenos Aires.
3. Hazardous wastesArgentinaBuenos Aires Metropolitan Area.
I. Swistun, Dbora Alejandra. II. Title.
HV4070.B84A99 2009
363.73842098212dc22 2008043342

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

To the memory of Chuck Tilly
and his invisible elbow

Que los que esperan no cuenten las horas,
Que los que matan se mueran del miedo.
Joaqun Sabina, Noche de Bodas

______________________________

[T]he deeper the theoretical analysis goes, the closer
it gets to the data of observation.
Pierre Bourdieu, The Bachelors Ball

1 Villas del Riachuelo
Life amid Hazards, Garbage, and Poison

4 The (Confused and Mistaken)
Categories of the Dominated

7 The Social Production of Toxic
Uncertainty

Conclusion: Ethnography and
Environmental Suffering

FLAMMABLE

In 1987 Sandra Martinez moved to Flammable shantytown (Villa Inflamable, located in Dock Sud, Buenos Aires). She was seven years old. At the time, her parents were working in the then federally owned YPF (Yacimientos Petrolferos Fiscales) oil refinery. After a few years of long commutes from Florencio Varela, Sandras parents found a place to live right across the compound that houses YPF (now Repsol), Shell, and other petrochemical companies and storage facilities. They have all been living in the neighborhood for the last eighteen years.

Sandra is now twenty-five, is married to Carlos Martinez, and has four children. Both Carlos and Sandra used to work as cleaners in two of the companies of the compound, but they lost their jobs years ago. These days, Carlos leaves the house every afternoon to scavenge around the center of Avellaneda, up and down Avenida Mitre. On a good week, I make around $25 (US $8). Sometimes I bring stuff to sell, a pair of sneakers or something I find in the street. And I make 5 or 10 pesos. It all depends on the kind of merchandise I bring, but now the streets are empty. Its tough. But some people give me cardboards or newspapers, some other people give me clothes or sneakers, and I sell that stuff. And we subsist with her plan, we have nothing else. Sandra has not been able to find a job and is currently a beneficiary of the Plan Jefas y Jefes, an unemployment subsidy of $150 per month (US $50) that the federal government launched after the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina. Together, she says, we make around $250 (US $82 per month) and with that we make ends meet (con eso tiramos). We cook once a day, at night. For lunch, their children have bread and milk; their only full meal is dinner. On the weekends, the family attends communal soup kitchens: On Saturdays and Sundays we always go there, so that they can eat at least once, Sandra tells us. Their gas carafe costs $24; we dont always have the money to pay for it, and we have to use wood [for cooking and heating]. Carlos tried to sign up for the Plan Jefas y Jefes but nothing happened. I did all the paperwork, and nothing came through.

The Martinezes pressing economic needs compete for their attention with the constant health problems of two of their children. Two of them, Sandra remarks, have problems. The other two came out well. The youngest one, Julian, is now five, and has had convulsions since he was a baby:

He was born with a mark in his head. The doctors told me it was nothing. That it was just a birth mark. He then started to have convulsions and I began to go from one hospital to another. At the Childrens Hospital, he had a tomography done, and it turns out that his brain is affected by that mark, which is not just on the outside but inside too. And now he has that angioma that is popping out. See, Julian, show it to them.

When Julian shows us the protruding red pimple, we ask Sandra about the doctors diagnosis. They dont explain anything to me, she replies. They dont know why he has that mark. I had my testing done, his father was also tested. And we have nothing. They didnt screen us for lead because they have to charge us for that. And we couldnt pay. Julian was prescribed an anticonvulsant. Sandra receives a bottle of Epamil a month for free at the local public hospital, but Julian uses two or three bottles. And its $18 to $20 each one, and sometimes we cant afford it. I began the paperwork to see if I can get it for free. Everybody promised me but nothing happened. Papers, papers, papers nothing but words. Julian needs to be routinely supervised for his convulsions, but it has been a while since his last checkup.

We now have an appointment for August. He could die before then, but I have to wait [our emphasis]. Sometimes he has convulsions twice a day, and I have no medication. Now I dont even have money to [pay for the bus to] go to the hospital. Children here are always sick, with bronchitis, with a cold. She [referring to Sofia, her seven-year-old daughter] always has headaches and stomachaches.

Sofia was born with her left leg significantly shorter than her right one. When Sandra had her first ultrasound, she was told that Sofia was going to come out with problems. When I told the doctors that I was living here, they told me I should have my lead level tested. I couldnt afford the exams. The doctors told me that the lead may have caused the problem of the leg. Lately, Sofia began to show signs of serious learning difficulties at school: She has problems remembering the numbers its really hard for her.

Sandra herself is not in better shape. She looks much older than twenty-five. Half of her teeth are missing, and she always looks extremely tired: I have all the symptoms, she says referring to possible lead poisoning, I had cramps, blood coming out of my nose, constant headaches. Its been three or four years now since Ive been aching all over. When the pain is unbearable, she attends the local health center, and the doctors give me some aspirin. I get better but then the pain comes back. At night is even worse. When we asked about her lead levels, she tells us that the tests are very expensive for her to afford: They are between $100 and $200 (US $33 and US $67).