Carlo Nicoli Aldini recently completed his PhD at the Agenda 2030 Graduate School and the Department of Sociology of Law at Lund University. In his dissertation, he returned to his home country, Italy, to explore the role of law in a socio-environmental crisis – how it both offers solutions to the crisis and at the same time contributes to its emergence.
The steel plant – the largest in Europe in terms of surface area and one of the largest in production capacity – was built in the 1960s and became the local largest employer, while contextually gaining a preeminent role in Italy’s steel economy. In the process, it increasingly transformed the local environment.
A widespread health crisis
Land, sea and air were all affected by severe pollution from the plant and other large industries in the area. This generated a widespread health crisis, and several studies have shown increased mortality rates in the local population. Research has also linked living close to the industrial area to higher risks of cancer and neurobehavioural problems among children.
The crisis developed into a conflict that was also fought through legal means. While the Italian state used the law to protect political and economic interests linked to the steel plant, local organizations and individuals mobilised to demand reduced emissions and an end to production. These segments of the population achieved relevant objectives through legal proceedings, but their effects were often limited by government interventions.
What have you studied?
"I studied the conflict surrounding the steel plant in Taranto, one of the largest in Europe. The plant was established in the early 1960s and has created a socio-environmental crisis that has become particularly acute over the past twenty years.
I examined the conflict from a socio-legal perspective, focusing on the role of law both in producing the crisis and as a site where societal contradictions become visible."
Why is this research important?
"The conflict in Taranto is one of many environmental conflicts unfolding around the world. Studying it from a socio-legal perspective highlights how law functions both as a resource for “solving” such conflicts and as a factor producing them.
It is a case study of law’s structural ambivalence in today’s world. This ambivalence not only mirrors societal contradictions, it also produces them."
What are your main findings?
"The crisis in Taranto reflects the contradictions generated by the government’s efforts to “solve” the “southern question”, commonly understood as the idea that Southern Italy lags behind the North, and that political projects must be put in place to align the South with the socioeconomic standards of the North. The establishment of the steel plant was part of that project, and it generated politico-economic interests tied to the plant that are at the root of the environmental crisis and the social tensions that underpin today's conflict. In other words, the attempt by the government to “solve” the problems commonly associated with the “southern question” generated the same problems it sought to address, as well as new ones.
My findings suggest that legal processes can play an important role in driving change, but that their effects are often limited. In Taranto, local communities have won several important court cases, yet many of these decisions have later been weakened or reversed through political and legal action.
This highlights how legal tools, when used for emancipatory purposes, often struggle to erode the structures that sustain harmful practices. And law is also instrumental in upholding these structures.
The thesis also highlights a paradox: in some situations, the rule of law can be undermined through its own operations."
Was anything in your findings surprising?
"I come out of the project with a new understanding of my home country."
Read more and download Carlo Nicoli Aldini's thesis in the Lund University Research portal