Shadow Places, Environmental Justice, and the Submergence of Pollution

Abstract

This article explores the efforts of the Danish chemical company Cheminova to shape public discourse around pollution in a concerted effort to normalize or justify its polluting activities. Beginning in the 1950s, Cheminova established itself as a successful producer and exporter of organophosphate-based pesticides. By the 1990s, Cheminova had become an international corporation with multiple subdivisions and a manufacturing plant in India. However, continuous incidences of pollution repeatedly placed the company at the center of public attention in Denmark. This article contends that Cheminova navigated criticism of its polluting activities within and beyond national boundaries by deploying the strategy of “submergence,” hiding the truth about its practices by both normalizing and externalizing pollution.