Sounding the Overflown: A critical-victimological study of environmental harm through the example of aircraft noise in London, UK
Tools
Tools
Yildirim, Aysegul. 2022. Sounding the Overflown: A critical-victimological study of environmental harm through the example of aircraft noise in London, UK. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]
|
Text (ounding the Overflown A critical-victimological study of environmental harm through the example of aircraft noise in London, UK)
SOC_thesis_YildirimA_2022.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract or Description
Noise pollution is among the top global environmental risks among many others, especially in urbanised areas due to the prevalence of motorised transport (EEA, 2020; UNEP, 2022). Although the health effects of persistent noise exposure, including cardiovascular diseases, are well-documented, noise is a neglected pollutant compared to visually traceable ones. Noise emitting from transportation is not recognised as a statutory nuisance. Often-contested sound metrics and defining noise merely as ‘subjective’ have become dominant in noise management. As a result, the noise victims' suffering often remains invisible in academic research and public discussion.
This thesis offers a closer look into how the invisibility of noise is maintained from a green-critical criminological perspective focusing on victims’ experiences. It is probably the first empirical study of the lived experience of noise using this specific perspective. By interviewing those who live under the flight paths of London airports and are impacted by aircraft noise, the study reveals noise as a complex issue sustained through several social and institutional/corporate mechanisms. Each empirical chapter of the thesis presents noise and its victimisation from different angles: First, how noise disrupts everyday life, including its rhythms, is articulated. Second, examining the experiences of complaints procedures reveals that corporate denial strategies sustain noise victimisation. Third, the role of the discursive and common sense understandings about noise and its victims are presented as the sociological backdrop which maintains the invisibility of the harms and sufferings.
In summary, noise as actual - but invisible - harm is facilitated by corporate denial, which is further underpinned by discourses and common sense revolving around 'sensitivity', which works to individualise the problem. Discursive tropes influence the victims' imaginaries and others, hindering noise from being understood as an environmental risk. The thesis invites us to think critically and imaginatively about noise, highlighting the existential function of sound in the 'sonic backyard' of philosophy, sound studies and sensory sociology in going beyond the normalisation of noise as a pollutant.
|
Item Type: |
Thesis (Doctoral) |
| Identification Number (DOI): |
|
| Keywords: |
Green Criminology, Environmental Harm, Aircraft Noise Pollution, Victimology, Qualitative Studies |
| Departments, Centres and Research Units: |
|
| Date: |
31 December 2022 |
| Item ID: |
33028 |
| Date Deposited: |
09 Jan 2023 16:36 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2023 16:45 |
|
URI: |
View statistics for this item...
 |
Edit Record (login required) |