Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses toxic flows of electronic waste recycling and associated health hazards in Delhi. Using three scales of analysis it sheds light on the imperceptibility of toxicity. The social and environmental injustice of the phenomena is addressed through the concept of slow violence.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores toxic flows through health hazards due to electronic waste (E-waste) recycling in Delhi. Conceptualising health hazards as a form of slow violence due to their spatial and temporal qualities, the idea of imperceptibility is put forward. The paper questions what this toxic perceptibility is shaped by. It is structured into three scales of analysis which help to address the perceptibility of health hazards linked to e-waste. First: the micro-biochemical scale shows how, from a toxicological perspective that isolates cause and effect, e-waste results in pathologies and why these are difficult to perceive. Second: the meta-human scale contextualises e-waste as one of many threats the workers are exposed to and recognises the labour as a source of livelihood - making it be perceived as vital, or at least - the lesser evil. Third: the macro socio-legal scale analyses the formalisation of the e-waste recycling process as one that rests on long-term visions informed by national and international narratives. It is argued that while the formalisation process makes the issue of health hazards more visible in some parts of Delhi, the hazardous practices move to other, still invisible spaces. By unpacking the methods of scaling within each chapter, it is illustrated how the scale of perception is a practice/position important to recognise. Finally, attention is drawn to the friction between the scales, to emphasise the tension, and hence the transformative quality of the perception of health hazards linked to e-waste.