It Was Five Past Midnight at Bhopal - Essay Example

?It Was Five Past Midnight at Bhopal: Review and Analysis [ID Five Past Midnight at Bhopal is a piece of holistic history, an anthropological review of the individuals and the discrete events behind the Bhopal disaster. It is an ethnographic work that allows people to see what happened behind the scenes. For those who wish to see how a disaster can evolve from seeds of carelessness, poverty and callousness, Five Past Midnight is a fascinating glimpse into a particular and dreadful case with immensely tragic consequences for an entire region. LaPierre and Moro (2002) note how the plant was a “hydra-headed” monster: It had a unit for alpha napthol, a unit for phosgene, a unit for methyl isocyanate, etc. “[C]ontrol rooms, works and hangers” over 120 acres with infrastructure. LaPierre and Moro make clear that the plants seemed superficially safe, but the whole concept was exploitative: People like “the Argentinian” resisted the size and the way it would keep on snaring out, taking over areas and controlling the population. But it came out of poverty. The people who had the best jobs were those climbing up high on the date trees, seeking out the nectar of the fruits, risking life and limb. The Bhopal factory, as horrible as it was and how terrible its catastrophe would be, was the best that could happen to the region, a boon. LaPierre and Moro make it immensely clear that Bhopal was not really an isolated incident: It emerged out of poverty, desperation and pain. LaPierre and Moro further connect Bhopal to other problems in the region. TED's Case Study of Bhopal does the same. “ However, industrial accidents such as Bhopal are not just an Indian or even a Third World problem but are industrial disasters waiting to happen , whether they are in the form of "mini-Bhopals", smaller industrial accidents that occur with disturbing frequency in chemical plants in both developed and developing countries, and "slow-motion Bhopals", unseen chronic poisoning from industrial pollution that causes irreversible pain, suffering, and death... These are the key issues we face in a world where toxins are used and developed without fully knowing the harm that can come from their use or abuse” (1997). Bhopal was in fact connected to one of the most wide-eyed dreams in world history: The Green Revolution (LaPierre and Moro, 2002; TED, 1997). “The Bhopal facility was part of India's Green Revolution aimed to increase the productivity of crops. Considered an essential factor in the effort to achieve self-sufficiency in agricultural production, pesticide production use increased dramatically during the late 1960's and early 1970's. The decision to manufacture the pesticides in India, as opposed to relying on imports was based on India's goal of preserving foreign exchange and its policy of industrialization” (TED, 1997). This further connects Bhopal to a long history, which in the spirit of LaPierre and Moro we shall analyze. Khilnani (1999) reviews the history of a united India. India was not a historically unified entity: Through Marathas, Muslim invasions, Ashokas, Rajputs and other dynasties and groups, it was a massive area that was never unified in one region until the British. The artificiality of this unified India was exposed most tragically, both to Nehru and Gandhi, in the Pakistan secession and the Hindu-Muslim conflicts of the post-independence period. Much like Germany, Prussia, Hungary and Austria, or Italy, the idea of the nation of India came about consciously by a program of unity. After the British were driven out, an “Indianness” was almost manufactured by both Gandhi and Nehru. This “Indianness” in the view of Nehru in particular, but certainly Gandhi as well, was to be a leader of the world, non-aligned between the extremes of Communism on the one end and capitalism on the other. They led the Third World movement and tried to navigate a compromise between Leninism and free markets. The Green Revolution was part of this: An attempt to catch India up again, bringing it back to its position as one of the leading agricultural producers of the globe. The Bhopal disaster, then, was just an isolated disaster. It was part of the failures of the Green Revolution, the way that a dream to produce food for the entire planet became associated with pesticides, poisons, ecological destruction, externalities being pushed onto the poor, suffering and economic exploitation. The Green Revolution in India ended up having disastrous consequences, alongside admittedly impressive successes. “[T]he Green Revolution became a victim of its own success. Food prices plunged by some 60% (when adjusted for inflation) by the late 1980s from their peak in the mid-1970s. Policymakers and aid workers turned their attention to the poor's other pressing needs, such as health care and education. Farming got starved of resources and investment. In 1979, 18% of official development aid worldwide was directed at agriculture; by 2004, that amount sank to 3.5%” (Schuman, 2009). The thing that was supposed to revitalize agriculture ended up destroying its prestige and power; the thing that was supposed to elevate the farmer denigrated it. Since the disaster, 20,000 people have died (Greenpeace, 2009). LaPierre and Moro review the horrible consequences, the way that this factory that was supposed to be like “chocolate” became a poison-belching disaster. “ More than 40 tons of methyl isocyante (MIC) gas created a dense cloud over a resident population of more than half a million people” (Greenpeace, 2009). Eight thousand of those deaths were in the first few days. Then there is the symbolism of the involvement of Union Carbide, the plant owners. They are a United States corporation. In the 1980s, India began to open up its markets, embracing capitalism and neo-liberalism more. Union Carbide offered a plant that would elevate people out of poverty; instead, it brought them poison. The irony is deep and indicative, and LaPierre and Moro connect it. Broughton (2005) takes this analysis further past LaPierre and Moro. Since the Bhopal disaster, there has been more, not less, expansion of chemical plants, more industrial expansion. “Since the disaster, India has experienced rapid industrialization. While some positive changes in government policy and behavior of a few industries have taken place, major threats to the environment from rapid and poorly regulated industrial growth remain. Widespread environmental degradation with significant adverse human health consequences continues to occur throughout India” (Broughton, 2005). Further, LaPierre and Moro explore the additional irony that the plant was about to close right before it emitted its toxic payload. The plant was built to produce the pesticide Sevin. It began safely enough, but then began to do “backward integration”, wherein raw materials and intermediates are done in the same facility. This makes it far more dangerous, with far more chemicals being produced in the same acreage and far more risk of a toxic mix occurring. “At 11.00 PM on December 2 1984, while most of the one million residents of Bhopal slept, an operator at the plant noticed a small leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and increasing pressure inside a storage tank. The vent-gas scrubber, a safety device designer to neutralize toxic discharge from the MIC system, had been turned off three weeks prior. Apparently a faulty valve had allowed one ton of water for cleaning internal pipes to mix with forty tons of MIC” (Broughton, 2005). The plant's shutting down led to its collapse and toxic assault. The way that the markets had evolved had made it so that, while Union Carbide shareholders may have seen less growth, the people of India lost 20,000 people. LaPierre and Moro note how this process would lead to resentment about the role of foreigners. Yet another irony is that local shareholders participated in the process: Indians became complicit in the poisoning of their own countrymen (Broughton, 2005). The government had a 22% stake and yet more came from local people. In fact, government failure and complicity was found at all stages of the process. There had been failures of regulation, with the government being “reticent to place heavy industrial safety and pollution control burdens on the struggling industry because it feared the economic effects of the loss of such a large employer” (Broughton, 2005). Ironically, this connects India to America and the West in obvious ways: For in the West too, a “race to the bottom” has led people to defend wasteful military pork-barrel spending to preserve jobs. One of the major ethnographic problems with disasters is that it always feels that, since the deed is done, it was inevitable. LaPierre and Moro avoid this masterfully, especially in Chapter 37, “What If The Stars Were To Go On Strike?” They bring us into the level of the people living at the time and working there, allowing the audience to realize that this catastrophe could repeat itself, since it is not the dead past but actually informs the present. “SAFETY IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS. There was nothing definite, however, to make the young Bengali believe that the safety of the factory was not assured. Certainly, the faces of the six night-shift operators betrayed no sign of disquiet”. This review of the people in the accident, at the time of the accident, helps shake viewers from complacency and relive through the horror of this experience on a visceral level. LaPierre and Moro open in their “Letter to the Reader” by describing “a tall Indian in his forties” named “Sathyu” who inspired the whole book by asking LaPierre to help fund a gynecological clinic. Sathyu is an example of local self-help. In a real way, Sathyu is the mirror image of the attempt at self-help that precipitated the disaster, an example of the good that comes from people in the Third World fighting for themselves. The book opens with a hope that, by rejecting corporate imperialism and external self-motivated growth, the Third World can conquer the forces that led to Bhopal and might led to further disaster. LaPierre and Moro also discuss how internal politics helped lead to the disaster. “Indira Gandhi had no great affection for her country's maharajahs and nawabs. When the British left, her father, Jawaharlal Nehru and the leaders of the Indian independence movement had power taken away from them. She then proceeded to confiscate their last remaining privileges and possessions. Eduardo Munoz saw their persecution as a providential gift”. The expropriation opened up an opportunity for Munoz to take the land that would ultimately be put onto the plant. The legacy of internal politics and the costs of decolonization were part of the catastrophe. LaPierre and Moro's close treatment also lets Westerners ask a simple question: Would they have tolerated this on their own home soil? What would Americans have done if a foreign conglomerate that had been brought in by the government, pressured not to regulate because of its power, and used its bullying ability deftly, had inflicted a catastrophe of this magnitude? I think it's certain that Dow would be facing charges right now, and Union Carbide and Dow would be synonymous in the American mind with Enron and WorldCom. The fact that they are not has some ugly implications. LaPierre and Moro's review of Bhopal is fascinating. It seems that there had to be a perfect storm of effects: Neo-liberalism, agricultural change, poverty, neo-colonial desperation, the decisions of leaders, and Indianness itself. Bhopal is a deeply meaningful disaster. And while individuals did face prosecution, like Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson, Dow has failed to take responsibility (Greenpeace, 2009). Both for those who support increasing global market integration and those who oppose it, the Bhopal disaster through LaPierre and Moro's eyes is a powerful challenge and a vindication. Those who support globalization can point to the need that Bhopal filled, but must answer the challenge of its failure. Those who do not can point to the costs of Bhopal, but must come up with an alternative to solve the root causes. LaPierre and Moro make a disaster from twenty-five years ago valuable. Works Cited Broughton, E. 2005, “The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review”, Environmental Health, Vol. 4 No. 6. Greenpeace. 2009, “Bhopal Disaster”, Available at : B http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/toxics/justice-for-bhopal/ Khilnani, S. 1999, The Idea of India, Macmillan. LaPierre, Dominique and Moro, Javier. Five past midnight at Bhopal. Hachette Digital, Inc. 2002. Schuman, M. 2009, “The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review”, Time, October 26. TED. 1997, “Bhopal Disaster”, TED Case Studies Available at: http://www1.american.edu/ted/bhopal.htm Read More