ABSTRACT
On the Chincha Islands, park rangers look for signs of returning bird populations; on Vinalhaven, deep quarry pools reflect light; the Carrie Furnaces stand awaiting future development; and in northern Brazil, a newly elected government has promised to reduce environmental protections and indigenous power in the Amazon. The production of different construction materials requires different types of labor; to cut trees or mine ores makes for very different physical actions, responsibilities, and ambiences. Taken together, patterns of labor injustice and resistance, the remoteness of production sites, and cycles of exhaustion related to material production illustrate Jason E. Moore’s notion of how capitalism organizes “cheap natures,” rather than a more palatable story of modern progress. The textures, smells, structures of particular materials give people tactile and intimate contact with fragments of distant landscapes and their myriad social and ecological relationships.
