Racialised Stereotypes of Scrap Iron Collection as Failures of Ecological Citizenship

Abstract

Despite scrap metal collection being a valuable ecological practice, one which exposes collectors to health hazards and poor working
conditions, it is frequently devalued and rarely portrayed as a positive environmental contribution. Our article examines views regarding scrap metal collection expressed in response to Charlie Hebdo’s caricature of the (non-Romani) Romanian tennis player Simona Halep as a scrap iron collector. We argue that the reactions to the caricature are evidence of a racially charged negative stereotype of Roma as (illicit) scrap iron recyclers. Second, we argue that what makes this stereotype wrong is not (just) that it is false or demeaning, but that it contravenes duties to reduce material footprints through activities like metal recycling. Drawing on Andrew Dobson’s work, we explore the stereotype’s negative framing of metal collection as a failure of ecological citizenship, and we consider how its racial elements challenge Dobson’s neutral image of ecological citizens. We argue that addressing the stereotype requires a more inclusive and transformative understanding of ecological citizenship, and we end by considering ways in which focusing on the duties of ecological citizenship can boost the struggles against the various forms of ecological injustice and exploitation that Romani communities face.