Between Tragedy and Farce: 9/11 Compensation and the Value of Life and Death

Abstract

This paper examines how lives have been valued (or not) in the US federal compensation programs set up in the wake of 9/11. The Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), implemented within days of the attacks, provided unlimited funds to the victims. In contrast, many first responders who developed illnesses later have had access to limited support. Only in 2011 was the Zadroga Act signed into place, which extends compensation to these workers and others. This paper compares and contrasts the two programs to make two points. One, the debates around compensation lay bare the differential values that are ascribed to life, and how biopower not only fosters life but abandons some to the point of death. Two, despite the controversies around extending compensation, the Zadroga Act was eventually enacted. Our second point is thus that war is not just destructive, but can be used to reconstitute the social and political in unanticipated ways.

Geography, migration and abandonment in the Calais refugee camp

“…There are instances of migrants being denied access to healthcare to which they should be entitled, being prevented from travel despite having correct documentation and not being protected by police when assaulted by racist thugs -all within EU countries. The violence wrought on migrants in Europe starkly recalls Mbembe's (2003) notion of the violence of 'letting die' -a situation in which individuals are not activity made to die, as in the case of genocide (Gilbert & Ponder, 2014) but are suffering a violent abandonment through political neglect. As a result, migrants and refugees who are forced to navigate the labyrinth of camps as they journey throughout Europe are exposed to conditions that consign 'large numbers of people to lead short and limited lives' (Li, 2010, 3).…”

Accumulated Injuries of Environmental Injustice: Living and Working with Petrochemical Pollution in Nanjing, China

“…The possibilities for political action to address toxic exposures in China are extremely limited, and ultimately people seek pragmatic solutions. Where possible, some people in the petrochemical villages of Nanjing have sought basic financial compensations from industry for acute loss of livelihoods and health, but these compensations have been inadequate and uneven, paralleling the politics of compensation and social welfare in toxic geographies around the world (Petryna 2002;van Rooij et al 2012;Barry 2013;Gilbert and Ponder 2014;Davies and Polese 2015). Overall, residents and workers highlighted their lack of political power to campaign for justice, cleanup, or meaningful compensation, a stark reflection of the unequal politics of knowledge and science (Fricker 2007;Boudia and Jas 2014;Allen 2018).…”

“…Our research contributes to interdisciplinary debates about lay understandings of environmental health and justice in "contaminated communities" (Allen 2003;Edelstein 2004;Brown 2011), environmental pollution in China (Tilt 2006;Bullard and Wright 2009;Lora-Wainwright 2017), and lived experiences of toxicity and exposure (Petryna 2002;Allen 2003;Auyero and Swistun 2009;Davies 2018;Jovanovi c 2018). More specifically, it contributes to debates about the politics of compensation in toxic spaces and the wider question of whether it is ever possible to put a value on human life (Petryna 2002;van Rooij et al 2012;Barry 2013;Gilbert and Ponder 2014;Davies and Polese 2015). People living and working in petrochemical areas in Nanjing, like in many other parts of China, have limited access to information about health risks related to pollution and few opportunities to seek compensation for damages, mitigation, or accidents.…”

Nuclear Borders: Informally Negotiating the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

“…Recent scholarship argues that the failure to adequately compensate and protect citizens can be framed as a form of violence (Gilbert and Ponder, 2014;Li, 2009), especially in situations of forced displacement (Shaw, 2013). This is not the physical violence of genocide or 'thanatopolitics' (Foucault, 2003: 230), but, rather, a 'stealthy violence' (Li, 2009: 67) of abandonment that casts Chernobyl citizens outside the de facto protection of the state, and forces them to rely on informal actions and understandings of their nuclear landscape.…”