Presentation short abstract

This paper explores the case of the Oil Processing Center of Viaggiano (located in Val D’Agri, Basilicata - Southern Italy) to analyse the effects of almost 30 years of oil extraction, showcasing how the impacts of enduring non-lethal “banal” violence are closely intertwined with more acute violence

Presentation long abstract

In this paper, I explore the case of the Oil Processing Center of Viaggiano (Val D’Agri, Basilicata in Southern Italy) to analyse the effects of almost 30 years of oil extraction. Building on Craig Jones’ works of unpacking violence binaries, I investigate the invisible, long-lasting effects of enduring non-lethal slow violence – a kind of “violence of persisting harm”.

Departing from the ethnographic work of scholars investigating the impact of the Center on the population, this paper highlights how self-fulfilling petro-prophecies and impotence together contribute to maiming people’s agency and ability to resist, which can be considered an ongoing and long-lasting effect of enduring invisible violence. Exposed to an longlasting process of petrolification of its land and livelihood, the Lucanian psyche has been injured and its imagination, mutilated of alternatives to oil. As studies show, the inhabitants are unable to imagine a Basilicata without oil, proving that extractivism has managed to occupy not only its institutions, but also collective imaginaries. Moreover, witnessing their socio-ecological environment deteriorate without their consent or involvement, the frustrated population has fallen into a state of hopelessness and powerlessness, an efficient strategy for multinationals to keep the status quo.

To conclude, this paper aims to emphasise the importance of making visible the hidden psychological impacts of enduring non-lethal violence, as closely intertwined with the long-term deadly features of acute yet slow violence. To strengthen this point, I enriched my research with a design artefact visualising Lucanians’ petrolised imaginaries via a tarot deck of ten symbolic cards.