Long before and long after the bombs fall, human and ecological health is impaired by war.  Shared patterns of environmental health effects across Iraq, Gaza and the DRC indicate that the toxic materials known to threaten life after war as the deposits of bombardment also do so before war as mineral commodities at the beginning of arms supply chains. Dr. Rubaii's work connects military technologies to arms manufacturers and their use of extracted minerals (e.g. cobalt, tantalum, copper, uranium). If we want a planet that supports life and health, we need to see how war is a climate and environmental issue.

Dr. Kali Rubaii is a cultural anthropologist whose work focuses on displacement, health justice, and the environmental impacts of war. Through forensic ethnography, Dr. Rubaii’s work bears witness to the violent material impact of extractive industry and war on people’s lives. Through her research on displacement, environmental health, and warscape ecologies, she aims to sharpen collective strategies for survival where coercive power meets the physical world.

About NHPA’s bi-weekly Zoom Peace & Justice Conversation Series: 2020’s upheavals brought us to a new moment of reckoning and possibility. How do we want to live in the world? What do we value? How can we make the changes we’ve been yearning for? NH Peace Action has been engaged in working for change for decades. We’d like to bring you into these conversations about issues and options for the future.  There is no charge to attend, but your contributions in any amount are greatly appreciated.