ABSTRACT
The ambiguities of cleanliness and dirt in relation to urban pollution highlight social hierarchies, power and inequalities. We argue that pollution can serve as a lens through which to examine the politics and social construction of differences and help us to understand the complex web of social relations through which individuals constitute their daily lives (see Dürr & Jaffe, 2012, 2014; Jaffe & Dürr, 2014). Following Lakoff and Collier (2004: 420) we link this perspective with an ethical approach to pollution, asking “how should one live”, that is, debating the “good” and “proper” behaviour of urban dwellers. Further, we attend to the formation of ethical subjects, what Michel Foucault (1997b) terms “subjectivation”. While taking Mary Douglas’s insights as a point of departure, this chapter claims that material as well as social and symbolic dimensions of dirt need to be considered in order to understand the ways in which they come together to form socio-material assemblages that are shaped by power imbalances.
