Slow Violence on Coastal Ecosystems and Workers' Health: The Case of Aliaga, İzmir Shipbreaking Yards

Throughout history, marines have played a crucial role in accumulating wealth and expanding economies. Major port facilities have become integral to the global production and distribution networks, streamlining the transfer of energy and resources across the international market (Nogué-Algueró, 2019). The maritime transport industry is responsible for transporting over 80% of the global volume of commercial goods (Demaria, 2010). A significant issue within this industry is the disposal of obsolete and unusable "scrap" ships. While developed nations own and utilize these vessels for trade, dismantling them and their toxic materials frequently occurs in less developed countries.

The presentation examines the expanding shipbreaking industry in Turkey, a semi-peripheral country, highlighting its adverse effects on coastal ecosystems and workers' health. The main aim of the research is to examine how the damage inflicted on coastal ecosystems due to capital intersects with the fatalities, injuries, and occupational diseases resulting from shipbreaking labor processes in Turkey. One of this study's main goals is to demonstrate the parallel between the slow violence inflicted on coastal ecosystems and workers and highlight the transformative power of the working class as an active agent in addressing this dual harm.

Ships taken to shipbreaking yards for dismantling result in transforming their scraps and wastes into valuable materials, but this process leads to physical and mental exhaustion for the workers. Simultaneously, the coastal ecosystem is exposed to toxic and chemical wastes, causing harm and depletion. This study seeks to explore the connection between the harm inflicted on coastal ecosystems by shipbreaking activities and the occurrence of workplace accidents, injuries, and occupational diseases. It will examine this parallel using Karl Marx's "metabolic rift" and Rob Nixon's "slow violence" concept.

The research is founded on a field investigation that included semi-structured, thorough interviews with 53 individuals in the Aliaga region of Izmir.