Daniel Renfrew Books

Focusing on the Uruguayan lead poisoning crisis, the book explores its social, political, and environmental impacts through a political ecology of health lens. It connects the epidemic to neoliberal reforms, globalization, and the resurgence of the political Left in Latin America. The narrative highlights the emergence of an environmental justice movement and the interplay of local and transnational environmental ideologies. Through detailed ethnographic analysis, it examines the links between lead contamination, class politics, poverty, and the challenges of addressing this critical health issue.

"Life without Lead examines the social, political and environmental dimensions of a devastating lead poisoning epidemic. Drawing from a political ecology of health perspective, the book situates the Uruguayan lead contamination crisis in relation to neoliberal reform, globalization, and the resurgence of the political Left in Latin America. The author traces the rise of an environmental justice social movement, and the local and transnational circulation of environmental ideologies and contested science. Through fine-grained ethnographic analysis, this book shows how combating contamination intersected with class politics, the relationship of lead poisoning to poverty, and debates over the best way to identify and manage an unprecedented local environmental health problem"-- Provided by publisher