URBAN NARRATIVES IN A CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND GENERATIONAL INJUSTICE

Abstract

Objectives. The identity of the place has an effect on citizens’ identities. The study presented aims to support the connection between slow violence, environmental injustice, and the use of visual sociology to deepen the experiences and relations of people in the surrounding environment. The target is a neighborhood called Tamburi in the city of Taranto, Apulia. Methods. After an initial focus group useful to know more about the context, 8 people residing in the target area took photos to understand how the environmental damage has slowly settled on every aspect of life in the neighborhood and to explore concepts like social memories, and socio-semiotic category. The contribution of a non-residing photojournalist was analyzed, in order to improve and complete observation techniques. Results. Tamburi, literally incorporated by the industry, is a place with a complex identity to the detriment of social life and the new generations’ well-being, accompanied by a correlated social and cultural unease as well as a feeling of abandonment and vindication. It is identified as a sacrifice area due to the high rate of pollutants in circulation, premature deaths, and contamination of the urban and vegetable elements present. Conclusions. Living in territories vulnerable to sacrifice translates into considering the existences therein underestimated. The visual method offers interesting insights into the possibilities of interpreting some phenomena. The images of the neighborhood are a negative stimulus that communicates feelings of fragility in the individual and collective memory and has an impact on the livability and attractiveness of places.

Keywords

• visual sociology
• environmental violence
• narrative images
• generational injustice
• place identity