Living with Toxicity: Making slow violence noticeable in the surroundings of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Abstract

Residents of the surroundings of Schiphol are living with toxicity, as they are facing noise pollution and air pollution originated by Schiphol. In this thesis, I will examine the long-lasting social, environmental, and health effects of living with toxicity and the concept of slow violence (Nixon 2011) to provide insight and a language to understand what living in a toxic world means, and to show how this is violent in many ways. As I will argue, it is insightful to regard toxicity as a form of slow violence, as this emphasizes the power imbalances and struggles of the residents who try to resist this. Within this examination of living with toxicity in the surroundings of Schiphol, I will also debate Nixon’s (2011) standard definition of slow violence and propose to expand this by focusing on the noticeability of slow violence and how this influences the way people understand, perceive and act upon living with toxicity and slow violence. To regard toxicity as slow violence and focusing on the influence of noticeability, allows aspects such as insecurity and resistance to be explored through the notion of slow violence as well.