Think Culture

The average American produces an estimated 66 pounds of electronic waste every year. You can’t compost it; it’s gotta go somewhere.

Often, in violation of the law, that means a dump in the developing world — like the region of Agbogbloshie in the West African nation Ghana.

Only two decades ago, Agbogbloshie was a lush mangrove swamp. Reporter and photographer Yepoka Yeebo has captured the extent of Agbogbloshie’s transformation in an article for The Atlantic. She tells NPR’s Arun Rath that the region “looks like hell,” and explains where the electronics come from — and who takes on the dangerous, difficult work of filtering out valuable materials.

A Shadow Economy Lurks In An Electronics Graveyard

I made a 19-minute video essay about Phil Fish, which is really about internet fame and what expectations we have of the people we make famous.

I’m not entirely sure what to expect from having this online. I suspect it’s either going to be really contentious, or go largely unnoticed. Unnoticed, because, hey, it’s YouTube. Contentious because I don’t come down on the side of “Phil is an asshole,” largely because whether or not Phil is an asshole is irrelevant to the point I’m making (and similarly irrelevant to my life), but talking about Phil and saying anything other than “Phil is an asshole” tends to make you a lot of enemies. Sorta like how not blowing smoke up the PS4’s ass proves that you’re a Microsoft stooge.

From the transcript (here): "Phil is subculturally important, not culturally important; he’s only famous to us."

Why A Village Leader Ordered The Rape Of A 14-Year-Old In India

Last week, a young man from a remote village in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand was accused of sexually assaulting a married woman. To punish him, the village leader reportedly ordered the rape of his 14-year-old sister. The husband of the woman who was allegedly assaulted was told to carry out the rape.

As the woman’s husband dragged the girl to a nearby forest, villagers only looked on, her family told The New York Times.

It’s the latest case of sexual violence against women out of India, and it comes only months after a West Bengal village reportedly ordered the gang rape of a 20-year-old woman for “falling in love” with a man from another community. It also comes almost exactly a year after a 24-year-old woman was gang-raped as punishment for her brother’s act of adultery.

In all three cases, unelected village leaders and councils that rule rural parts of India ordered the sentences despite national laws that prohibit such “eye-for-an-eye” punishment against women. But these leaders often operate outside the law.

The use of rape as a punishment has a long history. Sexual violence against women has been a part of warfare and military occupation, says Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association.

Rape is, in fact, illegal in India (except for marital rape). But history and tradition make the law hard to enforce.

In remote and rural parts, patriarchal views on gender still hold sway, and sexual assault is an unofficially accepted form of punishment.

Sexual violence against women and “revenge rape” are deeply entrenched in rural villages, says Krishnan. Women represent the “honor” of their community and are viewed as family or community property.

That means rape isn’t considered an assault on the woman herself but a blow to the men she “belongs” to. The father suffers because the daughter is no longer pure, so according to tradition, no family would accept her as a bride. If the woman is already married, her rape would strip the husband of his honor.

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