Time: Wednesday, 10/Sept/2025: 11:00am - 12:30pm Session Chair: Dr. Federica Epifani Session Chair: Gustavo D'Aversa |
Sacrifice zones are defined based on localization conflicts, corresponding to what Shade (2015) refers to as a "territorial-state strategy." The UN (2022) describes them as the result of collusion dynamics between governments and businesses, leading to areas characterized by high levels of toxicity and pollution, thus opposing sustainable development policies and harming the interests of present and future generations.
The study of sacrifice zones raises questions related to both the spatial dimension, concerning the distribution of damage and benefits to populations, and the territorial dimension, linked to planning decisions and the relationships between the involved actors. Moreover, it is essential to consider the place-based dimension, particularly regarding how the inhabitants of these areas experience and process individual and collective, often traumatic, experiences (Pain, 2021).
A multi-scalar approach allows us to understand the sacrifice zone as a social space produced by North/South and center-periphery networks of relations, which play a fundamental role in defining which territories are considered "sacrificable." This is driven by hierarchical spatial visions animated by extractive, predatory, and profit-driven logics, which inevitably impact the right to the city, the environment, and equitable, healthy, sustainable, and solidarity-based living conditions (Coddington, Micieli-Voutsinas, 2017). It should be noted that planning decisions behind the identification of sacrifice zones span various scales, from local to global (Souza, 2021). This includes extra-European sacrifice zones created to meet European demands and even the micro-scale of individual experiences. Therefore, spatial justice must also be addressed from a multi-scalar perspective, starting with a critical analysis of these planning decisions.
The session welcomes theoretical reflections and case studies on European sacrifice zones, with the aim of analyzing their main configurative characteristics, starting from the territorializing methods and deterritorializing effects of so-called strategic interventions in the affected areas. The session is also open to cultural and media representations of sacrifice zones, highlighting how these representations influence the social perception and legitimization of the sacrifice of certain territories and communities.
Additionally, the session aims to explore resistance practices carried out by local communities, which, in response to exclusion and marginalization, are able to develop strategies for reterritorialization, innovation projects, experimentation, and regeneration. These processes are hypothesized to represent attempts to reclaim the territory through participatory, solidarity-based, ecological, and socially inclusive practices.
Rethinking marginality through the geographies of children living neighborhoods “of exception”. A comparison between Borgo Marina, Rimini, and Al Hussein Camp, Amman.
La Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
In the context of a doctoral research on “spaces of exception” (Agmaben, 2002), spaces of marginalization to which modern society decides to relegate Homo Sacer, i.e., the sacrificable human being, I considered two neighborhoods as case studies: Al Hussein palestinian refugee camp in the city of Amman, a Middle Eastern metropolis, and Borgo Marina, a neighborhood considered “marginalized” and “dangerous” in the city of Rimini, a middle European city. This dual choice questions the production of spaces of sacrifice that transcend the official camp form (Katz, Martín, & Minca, 2018) to creep into Middle Eastern as well as European cities, within neighborhoods informally considered as marginalized, peripheral, and dangerous spaces in which the discourse of “space of exception” is repurposed.
The research focuses on the study of these two different “exception” neighborhoods analyzed from the perspective of the children who inhabit them and who within them construct geographies of their own and could demonstrate forms of political protagonism and participation. This particular perspective is focused on using the mosaic approach (Clark & Moss, 2011) a methodology that, by favoring nonverbal tools such as photography, interactive map making and guided tours, allows children to actively participate in the research as co-researchers who are experts in the space in which they live.
In November and December 2024, I completed a project within the L. Ferrari elementary school in Rimini's Borgo Marina neighborhood. On this occasion I was able to work with 42 fifth-grade children within the neighborhood that, protagonist of an important social transformation in the 1990s, is currently home to several migrant communities and is described by a certain part of public opinion as a space of danger and marginalization. With the aim of recognizing a scholarly value to the experience of girls and boys living in these neighborhoods, the research questions the possibility that these geographies of childhood can be carriers of new, transformative solutions.
Agamben, G., & Hiepko, A. (2002). Homo sacer (p. 6). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Clark, A., & Moss, P. (2011). Listening to young children: The mosaic approach. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Katz, I., Martín, D., & Minca, C. (Eds.). (2018). Camps revisited: Multifaceted spatialities of a modern political technology. Rowman & Littlefield.
Spaces of Resistance and “Sacrifice Zones”: Comics as a Tool for Socio-Ecological Mobilization in Southern Italy
Università del Salento, Italy
In today’s European context, the North-South divide and the center/periphery dynamic exert a significant influence on how possible areas come to be viewed as “expendable.” In Italy, the South (Mezzogiorno) offers a paradigmatic example of this process. Here, the “territories in struggle” (Imperatore, 2023) call for a systemic approach capable of integrating the ecological crisis with everyday territorial experiences. From this perspective, the visual arts can serve as a valuable resource for examining local communities’ forms of resistance. Such practices transform “sacrifice zones” into arenas where “emotions, bodies, and spaces interact” (Drozdzewski, Dominey-Howes, 2015, p. 17).
The case of Taranto is especially telling. Long known for its protracted conflict between environmental exploitation and redefinition of public roles, Taranto also fosters a range of “resilient” subcultural expressions—among them comics—through which local citizens challenge hegemonic narratives. These “small histories” question the notion of sacrifice and convey the experiences of those who reject the health–labor blackmail. They locate possibilities for “resistance and radical possibility” (Hooks, 1989, p.20; Sabatini, 2023, p.190) in the margins.
Given this backdrop, the present contribution aims to demonstrate how comics construct and regenerate spaces—both geographic and symbolic—that emerge as genuine horizons of shared meaning. The paper aims to examine, through comparisons, textual analysis and interviews with authors, several works by embedded “cartoonists” (Rinella, Epifani, 2021, p. 193) that depict a condition deeply marked by eco-climatic collapse. Their narratives facilitate a structural analysis of the link between local conflicts and the global socio-ecological crisis. They also underscore that environmental upheaval is far from abrupt: “If Taranto has long been a mirror of the South … today it is a mirror of the whole of Europe” (Leogrande, 2013, p.9). Instead, this upheaval is the dramatic result of deliberate political and territorial decisions implemented in a specific place, heedless of the community’s protests. Consequently, the territory acquires both symbolic and empirical significance, representing the shift from "reflexive impotence" to “collective empowerment” (Fisher, 2009, p.21; Imperatore, 2023). This vision enables the creation of shared vocabularies that connect experiences of suffering in sacrifice zones around the world, without glossing over their distinct features.
References
Drozdzewski D, Dominey-Howes D (2015) Research and trauma: understanding the impact of traumatic content and places on the researcher. Emotion, Space and Society 17: 17–25.
Fisher M (2009) Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Zero Books, Winchester (UK).
Hooks B (1989) Choosing the margin as a space of radical openness. The Journal of Cinema and Media 20: 15–23.
Imperatore P (2023) Territori in lotta. Capitalismo globale e giustizia ambientale nell’era della crisi climatica. Meltemi, Roma.
Leogrande A (2022) Fumo sulla città. Feltrinelli, Milano.
Rinella A, Epifani F (2021) “Translocal” narration of environmental issues through graphic novels: two Italian case studies. Central European Journal of Geography and Sustainable Development 3(1): 5–20.
Sabatini F (2023) Sicani Telling: storie minute dai margini della Sicilia. In: Documenti geografici, fascicolo 2(2023) “Margini, bordi, periferie,” pp. 45–60.
Conflictos sociales por el agua: descomposición de la vida comunitaria y fragmentación socio-territorial en Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia, Plurinational State of
Introducción
Este trabajo explora las dinámicas de las zonas de sacrificio en el contexto cochabambino, específicamente en las comunidades de Bruno Moqo en Tiquipaya y Alba Rancho en Cercado. Estas áreas, con un rico pasado agrícola desde la Revolución Nacional y la Reforma Agraria (1952), enfrentan hoy un proceso de urbanización acelerado y poco planificado, que ha transformado su carácter productivo y ha generado significativos conflictos socioambientales. A través de un análisis multiescalar, se examina cómo las decisiones territoriales han configurado estas zonas como espacios de sacrificio, donde la contaminación ambiental y la fragmentación comunitaria son resultado de la interacción entre factores económicos, políticos y sociales.
Contexto y problematización
Estas comunidades, con un pasado agrícola arraigado desde la Revolución Nacional y la Reforma Agraria, enfrentan un proceso de urbanización poco planificado. La expansión urbana ha llevado a la ocupación y loteamiento de tierras agrícolas, cambiando su carácter productivo y generando conflictos socioambientales. La ausencia de planificación en la gestión de residuos sólidos y líquidos ha provocado la contaminación ambiental, afectando el agua y el suelo. Las aguas residuales sin tratamiento se utilizan para riego y producción lechera, exacerbando la degradación ambiental y la fragmentación socio-comunitaria.
Conflictividad y descomposición comunitaria
La contaminación ambiental y la gestión inadecuada de los recursos han generado profundas tensiones sociales, que podrían llevar al colapso del ciclo agrario en estas zonas a largo plazo. Aunque existen intentos de oposición a proyectos como la PTAR en Bruno Moqo, estos esfuerzos se centran más en evitar nuevas amenazas que en implementar proyectos participativos y ecológicos que fomenten la recuperación territorial. La falta de iniciativas colectivas y sostenibles para abordar la degradación ambiental y social sugiere que la resistencia y reterritorialización no están teniendo lugar de manera efectiva, lo que podría acelerar la fragmentación territorial y la pérdida de la identidad agraria en estas comunidades.
Conclusión
La ponencia busca explorar las configuraciones, representaciones y prácticas en torno a las zonas de sacrificio en Cochabamba, destacando la necesidad de justicia espacial y estrategias territoriales inclusivas para mitigar los impactos negativos y promover procesos urbanos que no fomenten la desigualdad.