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community organizing and political activism. 19
When lead poisoning was discovered in La
Teja, a dense, already existing network of community activists mobilized, and later turned
into the nation’s largest grassroots environmental movement. 20
In summary, the timing of the lead outbreak, its various political uses, and the media
and public’s fascination with the issue coincide with a “political opportunity structure” 21 that
combines: the loss of legitimacy of the traditional political party system and hegemonic forms
of authority linked to the state; the crisis of traditional political economic structures and
practices and the rise of the informal economy; the strength and tradition of community
activism in La Teja; and growing forms of socio-economic and spatial polarization and
exclusion. These are some of the macro processes that transformed the old environmental
health disease of lead poisoning into a political problem. Recent structural transformations at
once intensified existing contamination, increased social vulnerability to it, and created new
forms of pollution and exposure.
1.3 An Urban Political Ecology of Health
Urban centers have recently overtaken rural areas in their share of the world population, and
environmental degradation and urban social tensions have become urgent political concerns.
In the 21 st century, the Third World metropolis “has emerged as the trope of social
19 La Teja and the adjacent Cerro are generally considered the most politically organized and radical
neighborhoods of Montevideo.
20 See Chapter 2 for a more detailed discussion of La Teja and the lead issue, and Chapter 3 for a historical
overview and analysis of the rise of grassroots environmentalism in Uruguay.
21 I am using the “political opportunity structure” concept loosely here. Rather than the formal sociological and
political science model (e.g. McAdam et al 1996), I refer to a general set of conditions that provide an opening
and enhanced possibility for certain kinds of political action.
22