Summary. Industry and environmetal pollution: A comparative study of risk perception in Colombia and Spain

AutorMaría Fernanda Realpe Quintero
Páginas221-225

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SUMMARY

INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMETAL POLLUTION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RISK PERCEPTION IN COLOMBIA AND SPAIN

María Fernanda Realpe Quintero mfrealpe@gmail.com

Introduction

The world we live now is one in which the increasing concern on environment protection is changing the social perception of risks, and the paradigms of social and economic development. This book studies the process of change from environmental pollution as a normal byproduct of industrialization to its definition as a risk to human health and to the environment. This change is mutually interrelated with other changes such as the notion of economic development; the power relationships between civil society and industry; the role of science and technology; and the role of the state, among others. One of the most outstanding consequences of this process is a fundamental change in the notion of what is and what is not social inequality and justice.

A comparative study of the perception of environmental risk at a metallurgical factory in Cali, Colombia and a cellulose factory in Torrelavega, Spain reflects very well the process described above. This study aims at improving the understanding of how the environmental risk perception is being built in emerging economies and newly industrialized countries. A common factor in both cases was the conflict

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between neighbour communities and the factories due to the air and water pollution created in production processes. In these communities, pollution was initially considered a normal element of everyday life. However, it was later redefined by the same communities, as a risk for both human health and natural resources, as a result of increased awareness of the negative impact of environmental pollution and the construction of new values and social norms. The comparative analysis of the collective action that promoted the social change observed in these two communities is also examined in this book, and draws on the argument that the perception of environmental risk is a social construction.

In this study it is argued that in emerging economies and newly industrialized countries, and through collective action, it is feasible to promote the environmental protection using a discourse that calls the interest of civil society under the notion that industrial production processes cannot ignore its effects on the environment. However, this discourse is...

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