Summary Of Noxious New York By Julie Sze

Associate Professor Julie Sze, in her literary work titled Noxious New York, discusses in-depth the details and latest developments related to how we, as New Yorkers, should regulate and resolve the dilemma involving the environment in which we live. She makes many clear and convincing arguments, some of which will be mentioned and analyzed herein. Pollution, global warming, and those acts that cause these phenomena (mostly those provoked by humans) are large-scale issues that have the right to be addressed in any way possible if we are to make a better, safer, and more eco-friendly city. This is something that should be done not only for us and those of our time, but for future generations to come. First off, Sze proceeds to talk about the ‘politics’ related to environmental concerns such as pollution. In the writings, she also discusses the removal of “garbage” and other types of wastes as well as the political and social circumstances that surround the causes of the aforementioned wastes. The author also discusses the

According to Sze, “Harvey uses garbage as a metaphor for the postmodern condition and as a material object (the monumental waste disposal problem) to represent changing forms of capitalism.” (Sze, 2007, p. 117) What she means by this is that some individuals linked the term ‘garbage’ as a symbolic ideology related to how our capitalist culture has grown accustomed to throwing away not only our garbage and the things we no longer need or use, but also the values, lifestyles, and personal attachments that we have made in our lives. In addition, the concept of garbage is also related to the race and class issue. That is, the author states that some neighborhoods are more inclined to have greater amounts of trash due to the individuals (or groups of individuals) that live therein. Some base the issue of garbage on race, ethnicity and socioeconomic