The Contamination of the Earth. A History of Pollutions in the Industrial Age by François Jarrige and Thomas le Roux

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Contamination of the Earth. A History of Pollutions in the Industrial Age by François Jarrige and Thomas le Roux Harry Lintsen (bio) The Contamination of the Earth. A History of Pollutions in the Industrial Age by François Jarrige and Thomas le Roux translated by Janice Egan and Michael Egan. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020. Pp. xi + 459. Never has reading a historical study made me feel so sad. This book depicts the extensive pollution of the earth during the industrial revolution, showing that it was the result of conscious policy by entrepreneurs, politicians, and administrators. They knowingly continued or made polluting activities legal. Legislation to protect the environment, nature, and human health failed, as did opponents' attempts to turn the tide. The pessimistic perspective at the end of this book only confirms the bleakness. The study is structured around three eras: An Ancien Régime of Pollution 1700–1830, Naturalizing Pollutions in the Age of Progress 1830–1914, and The Toxic Age 1914–1973. For each period, the authors detail the nature of the pollution and the shifts. In addition, each period has a specific emphasis: for the first period, this is the role of chemistry, for the second, the role of experts, and for the third, the role of wars, energy, and mass consumption. Each period ends with an analysis of the policy and regulations regarding environment, nature, and health. Starting point for the analyses are the activities of craftsmen and entrepreneurs, and developments in industrial sectors. The book describes many industries, from metallurgical plants, foundries, breweries, refineries, mining, and chemicals, to textile and gunpowder factories. The reader can thus follow the sources of environmental pollution and the associated health risks in history, as well as identify the responsibilities. The authors take us to all the continents, focusing—as expected—on countries like Britain, France, Germany, and the United States. This approach runs the risk of repeating information. The study uses many recently published monographs on environmental history. These are often aimed at specific industries or regions, whereas this book attempts to provide a global synthesis by connecting sub-studies with social and economic history, the history of law and the state, and the history of science and technology. The result is impressive: a high level of information, extensive analyses with a wide scope, original propositions, [End Page 544] and a new, historical picture of global pollution. The book will become a standard work in environmental history. The authors' thesis is that pollution has become a decisive element in the functioning of the capitalist world. The history of pollution since the 1700s has been one of successive changes in scale "from dispersed and small-scale industry, situated on a single site, to the large industrial complexes and massive proliferation of pollution sources that typify the contemporary pollutions regime" (p. 9). At the same time, there has been a "liberalization" of environmental regulation and "naturalization" of industrial nuisances. Strict preindustrial revolution regulation was abandoned. Entrepreneurs, politicians, and administrators saw pollution as an inevitable and acceptable phenomenon despite the many protests. Nuisance was part of progress. The scaling-up of environmental problems means: toxic substances can be found in every corner of the earth, and pollution is still most intense near the sources of emissions. A constant in this history is the plight of the poor. Poor neighborhoods, working-class towns, and countries in the global south have been (and are) most affected by pollution. The dynamics in power relations and inequality, in domination and exclusion, also appear to apply to the history of pollution. This elaborate work certainly deserves all the praise. The question is whether environmental history is ready for a new step in light of current environmental debates. Is a historical synthesis focusing exclusively on environmental problems still sufficient? In any case, the period after 1970 requires a more extensive analysis. According to some historians, the first deep transition phase—industrialization and modernization—has ended, and a new phase began after 1970, the second deep transition. This will occupy at least the twenty-first century and have global sustainability and equality as social ambitions. Moreover, we will have to place the environmental issues...