Situating class in workplace and community environmentalism: Working-class environmentalism and deindustrialisation in Porto Marghera, Venice

This article explores the challenges faced by working-class environmentalism through case study of industrial decline Porto Marghera’s petrochemical complex, in Venice, Italy. It argues that there is a class dimension environmentalist struggles both workplaces and communities. Workplace-centred are conflicts over conditions under which workers produce commodities or reproduce labour-power, while community-centred workers’ own reproduction. The distinction between workplace-centred based on three theoretical expansions: (1) conception dispossession rather than exploitation; (2) work including production reproduction; (3) interests encompassing workplace community. thus contributes to environmental labour studies with an original analysis interplay struggles. In Marghera, 1990s 2000s, camps diverged chlorine-based production, former demanding just transition away from chlorine latter within it. While rival mobilisations limited damage health environment one hand, livelihoods other was closed without full remediation relocation all its comparable jobs. concludes convergence community organising critical step construction alternatives jobs versus dilemma.