An Eco-Governmental Critique of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
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Governing Nature, Sustaining Degradation: An Eco-Governmental Critique of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster Jennifer Leigh Lawrence Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought Timothy W. Luke, Chair François Debrix, Co-Chair Ann Laberge Bruce Hull August 7, 2015 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Deepwater Horizon, eco-governmentality; environmental disaster, hydrocarbon capitalism, manufactured risk © Copyright 2015 Governing Nature, Sustaining Degradation: An Eco-Governmental Critique of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster Jennifer Leigh Lawrence ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the discursive production of, and response to, environmental disaster. The project is contextualized through the case of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. By interrupting traditional perceptions of environmental disaster, this project frames socio-environmental disasters as a normal and increasingly experienced part of global hydrocarbon capitalism. The project purports that disaster is embedded within the current global economy and the high-modernist ideologies that underlie it. As such, the strategies and techniques employed to respond to environmental disaster are intimately bound up within the same systemic processes that have created them in the first place. Moreover, because instrumentalist responses are quickly employed to mitigate disaster, the systemic factors productive of disaster remain concealed. Environmental disaster is thus a process of hydrocarbon capitalism rather than a product of it; as such it can, among other categories, be understood as manageable, profitable, and litigable. This research also highlights the normalization of chronic socio- environmental disaster though sensationalistic perspectives on acute disaster. This project explores the potential for resistance through artistic endeavors, highlighting how the discursive processes that construct traditional power/knowledge formations of environmental disaster might be subverted through non-traditional means. While the framework of eco-governmentality is especially useful in highlighting the problematic social relationships to nature, the project nonetheless acknowledges that counter- discourses for are likely to be appropriated by industry for the purpose of new enterprise and profit. For the victims of environmental harm— past, present, and future— knowing and unknowing iii Acknowledgements Pausing for a moment to reflect upon the process of writing this project, it is clear that it is incomplete and imperfect. I think that any exploration of complex systems, relationships, and circumstances can be nothing other than ever-evolving. While the inspiration for exploring the relationship between the exploitation of natural resources and the socio-environmental consequences thereof is deeply entrenched within my own family and community experience, the everyday disastrousness that so many continue to suffer continues to motivate my scholarship. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those who have been instrumental in the development of my intellectual curiosities and who have been essential to my process of learning to do research. Drs. Timothy W. Luke, François Debrix, Ann Laberge, and Bruce Hull: I thank each of you for your advisement, encouragement, and critique. Dr. Luke, thank you for your patience and for trusting me enough to work with the framework that you pioneered on eco-governmentality. Although I realize that the pages that follow are just one articulation of the contemporary dangers of capital accumulation, I believe that the lens of eco-governmentality is particularly useful in progressing an understanding of the underlying conditions that produce disaster. I appreciate you granting me the flexibility to explore this. You’ve been a selfless and gentle supervisor, always giving of your time and consistently encouraging me to trust myself enough to go further. Thank you for helping me to become comfortable with complexity and for pushing me let go of looking for ‘the answer.’ I would not have been able to undertake this project without your perpetual kindness and mentorship. Next time we’re in San Francisco, Cotogna is on me! Dr. Debrix, your time and careful reading of this project has been invaluable. The work here has greatly benefitted from your attention to detail. I appreciate that you have kept me accountable and that ASPECT has granted me the financial support to see this project through. Dr. Laberge, thank you for your unwavering confidence in me and in this project and for encouraging me to keep going in the tough times. Your enthusiastic spirit is infectious and inspired perseverance in me when I needed it most. Dr. Hull, I am grateful for your urgings to keep my language moderate. Still yet, I realize that what is contained in the following pages is not for everyone but, hopefully it will resonate with a few more than it would have without you. Thank you being on the lookout for me! An unconscious sense of coming home has underwritten my time in Blacksburg. Joining the ASPECT program was not only a much needed salvation at the moment of acceptance but also brought me back to a region that continues to inspire me. Home has always anchored me. To my mom and dad, thank you for your unconditional love and support, your stories are bound up within my own. This would not have been possible without you. To my sisters, Melanie, Erika, iv and Hannah: I love each of you and cherish more than ever the unique friendships that we share. Marcus, Giuliana, and Nala: you make me happier than anything else in the world! CL, you have been my refuge, by my side for many nights of tears, frustration, and uncertainty and many days of celebration, victory, and happiness. Thank you for your love and support, for being my advocate, and for giving me security. I look forward to refining my scholarship with you by my side and to continuing to cultivate my sense of home together with you in the years to come. To the friends and colleagues that I’ve met along the way, the hours of conversation with you have helped me to navigate the complicated world of socio-environmental justice. Martin Saavedra, thank you for taking me under your wing early on. Sarah Marie Wiebe, you are endlessly thoughtful and generous; I look forward to many collaborations with you. Amy Linch, your kind words and sweet spirit have resonated with me; I often hear your voice in moments of doubt. Dr. Weisband, for encouraging me not to be afraid to be the lone voice crying in the desert. To KC Arceneaux, thank you for helping me to be clear. Emily Howard, Marcia Davitt, Robyn Jones, Sascha Engel, Lana Qumsieh, Sarah Surak, Vera Smirnova, Andy Scerri and Trish Nickel: your presence throughout the process has made all the difference. To all who have found value in my work and supported me to keep going, thank you. To MAOP, thank you for warmly welcoming me to the family. To CLIGS, I look forward to the continued partnership. To the Global Forum on Urban and Regional Resilience, I am grateful for the space to test ideas, and I am pleased that you see value and potential in the work for years to come. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCING DISASTROUS ENVIRONMENTS 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 3 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICAL THEORY AS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 7 RESEARCH QUESTION 8 ANALYTICAL APPROACH 10 CASE STUDY: THE DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTER 11 A CAVEAT ON THE TERM ‘SPILL’ 16 CHAPTER ROADMAP 17 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 27 WHY RECONSIDER ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER? 28 DES ASTRO: (UN)FAVORABLE TO ONE’S STARS? 33 GOVERNING DISASTER 40 NORMAL ACCIDENTS AND NORMALIZING THE RISKS OF HIGH-MODERNIST TECHNOLOGIES 44 SUSTAINABLE DEGRADATION AND DISASTER CAPITALISM AS HOPE EMBEDDED IN DESPAIR 55 THE THEORETICAL POSSIBILITY FOR RESISTANCE? 64 CONCLUSION: FRAMING THE CYCLE OF DISASTER PRODUCTION AND RESPONSE 70 CHAPTER 3: ECO-CONSTRUCTIONISM 74 INTRODUCTION 74 ECO-CONSTRUCTIONISM: DISCURSIVELY CONSTRUCTING THE ‘ENVIRONMENT’ 83 DEFINING DISCOURSE 86 HISTORY OF THE PRESENT 90 CRITICALLY FRAMING ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER DISCOURSE 92 SAMPLING 92 ANALYSIS 93 CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS 94 CHAPTER 4: ECO-MANAGERIALISM 97 INTRODUCTION 97 FROM MANAGERIALISM TO ECO-MANAGERIALISM 100 INPUT HIGH-MODERNIST VALUES = OUTPUT ECO-MANAGERIAL REMEDIATION 107 CHEMICALLY DISPERSING DISASTER: THE USE AND ABUSE OF COREXIT 110 NEOLIBERAL ECO-MANAGERIALISM: THE VESSELS OF OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM 122 CALCULATED DISASTER MANAGEMENT: THE FLOW RATE TECHNICAL GROUP 128 CONCLUSION: ECO-MANAGERIALISM AS AN OBFUSCATION OF EVERYDAY DISASTROUSNESS 134 vi CHAPTER 5: ECO-COMMERCIALISM 140 INTRODUCTION 140 ECO-COMMERCIALISM 147 SPILLIONAIRES: “IT’S ALL ABOUT WHO YOU KNOW” 149 DAWN SAVES WILDLIFE: ACCIDENTAL ECO-COMMERCIALISM AND CSR 159 BEYOND PETROLEUM—CYNICAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY UNDER CAPITALIST EXPANSION 164 RECYCLING OIL BOOMS FOR ELECTRIC CARS: THE CHEVY VOLT 168 INCREASING INSURANCE PREMIUMS & LIMITS OF LIABILITY 169 RESTORING LOCAL ECONOMIES: THE BILOXI SHUCKERS 179 CONCLUSION: NORMALIZATION VIA COMMERCIALIZATION 183 CHAPTER 6: ECO-JUDICIALISM 186 INTRODUCTION 186 DIFFERENTIATING ECO-JUDICIALISM 189 SHAPING PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE THROUGH THE IMPOSITION OF A NO-FLY ZONE 192 ENSURING HYDROCARBON CAPITALISM: A SHORT-TERM MORATORIUM ON DEEPWATER DRILLING 196 ACCOUNTABILITY & REFORM: RESTRUCTURING THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT