Breathing atmospheres of failure: The matter of pollution in Beirut

Abstract

This paper examines the atmospheric materialisation of failure in the context of Lebanon’s electricity infrastructure. Thinking through the rise in pollution levels in Beirut – which has been connected to the increased reliance to diesel-powered generators – the paper argues that the dysfunctional electricity sector and the polluting materiality it generates should be approached atmospherically. The paper shows, firstly, how the chronic state neglect of the electricity infrastructure – the entanglements of corruption, geopolitics, wasta networks, and multiple crises – remains ‘in the air’ as generators emit dangerous amounts of carcinogenic particles, enveloping Beirut into a toxic atmosphere. Secondly, the paper foregrounds the body’s immersion in its aerial environments through breathing. We argue that such immersion constitutes pollution as a form of embodied atmospheric failure, stemming from the state’s materialised (in)actions. By elaborating how this neglect permeates daily life – not only through affective entanglements, social inequalities and daily rhythms of power outages, but crucially through immersion in material atmospheres – the paper shows how air is embodied and existential, but also political, constituting a medium that allows pollution to encircle those dwelling in the city. Thirdly, the paper invites us to reconsider infrastructural failure and state neglect by examining how atmospheric pollution becomes an embodied part of city life. This, we argue, raises further questions about the allochronic temporalities of moving air and the challenging political terrain revealed by the aerialisation of infrastructural failure.