Rethinking Violence Through Netflix Drama "Toxic Town" | Coffee Break Research at LSE

Why It Matters

Recognizing structural and environmental violence forces policymakers to hold the state accountable, potentially preventing intergenerational health crises and reshaping how the law protects vulnerable communities.

Key Takeaways

• Toxic waste exposure linked to intergenerational health crises in Corby
• Legal definition of violence overlooks structural and slow harms
• Austerity policies exacerbate stigma toward disabled and unemployed
• State accountability absent for industrial and environmental injustices
• Netflix drama spotlights need for public inquiry and policy reform

Summary

The talk examines how the Netflix series “Toxic Town” reframes violence by exposing the long‑term health fallout from toxic‑waste dumping in Corby, a former steel‑town in England, and by questioning the criminal law’s narrow focus on interpersonal force.

The speaker traces the evolution from pre‑modern acceptance of physical coercion to Enlightenment‑era ideals of the rational man, arguing that modern state mechanisms have shifted violence from overt blows to structural harms—unemployment, welfare cuts, and environmental contamination—that disproportionately affect the poorest.

He cites the 2009 High Court ruling that held the local authority liable for prenatal exposure, the 50 % higher lung‑cancer rate in Corby, a GP’s dismissal of occupational causes in favor of smoking, and the recent class‑action suit against British Steel insurers as concrete illustrations of this “slow violence.”

The analysis calls for a legal redefinition of violence to include toxic and policy‑driven harms, a public inquiry into Corby’s brownfield housing, and broader policy reforms, warning that similar hidden injuries may be emerging in other post‑industrial communities worldwide.

Original Description

Netflix drama ‘‘Toxic Town’’ is based on the real-life story of mothers in the former steelworks town of Corby who secured a landmark High Court victory in 2009. The Court found a link between the negligent disposal of toxic waste and disabilities in children - since then, Corby residents have uncovered potential clusters of child cancers, low infant mortality rates, and high infertility. Following public pressure and national news coverage, the local council have finally agreed to investigate.

In this talk, Dr Roxana Willis draws on long-term research from her home council estate in Corby to explore the intergenerational injuries of industry and to question current conceptions of violence in law.

Dr Roxana Willis's research investigates the legal system through the prism of structural inequality, with a focus on class and race. Roxana’s first monograph, A Precarious Life, presents a long-term '‘ethnography at home’' on a disadvantaged housing estate in England. In addition to working within her home community, Roxana is interested in the interconnections between people and continents, and in this vein she examines similar themes of conflict, violence, and structural inequality in the context of Cameroon.

🔴 Roxana Willis is Assistant Professor of Law in LSE Law School https://www.lse.ac.uk/people/roxana-willis

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