Inevitably Toxic Historical Perspectives on Contamination, Exposure, and Expertise

The essays in this collection ask us to confront the toxic landscapes that pervade modern life. Taking us to sites of nuclear detonation, into neighborhoods impacted by oil drilling, and forests sprayed with pesticides, these stories ask how contaminated spaces have been created, whose health and well-being has been most impacted, and what role scientific experts have played in regulating radiation and chemical pollutants. If the proliferation of toxic spaces feels inevitable, then unraveling these hidden histories can help us to understand and resist these dynamics, and ultimately, imagine a different future.