Sludge Watch ==> Fabulous New Book: The Culture of Flushing

[Maureen Reilly]

SLudgewatch Admin:

This is a very interesting book for anyone who wants to know more about
sewers...  How we got to where we are at...

There will be a book review very shortly.

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The Culture of Flushing

Author:
Jamie Benidickson
UBC Press; July 2007
Paperback; 432 pages
978-0-7748-1292-4


To most, the flush of a toilet is routine -- the way we banish waste and
ensure cleanliness. It is safe, efficient, necessary, nonpolitical, and
utterly unremarkable. Yet Jamie Benidickson's examination of the social and
legal history of sewage in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom
demonstrates that the uncontroversial reputation of flushing is deceptive.
The Culture of Flushing is particularly relevant in a time when community
water quality can no longer be taken for granted, as it investigates and
clarifies the murky evolution of waste treatment.

The Culture of Flushing is essential reading for specialists in
environmental history, environmental law, public health, engineering, and
public policy. Those concerned with protecting water quality and the
environment will also find it unique, comprehensive, and accessible.




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Jamie Benidickson teaches Canadian and international environmental law, 
water law, and legal history. His publications in these areas include 
Environmental Law 3d (Irwin Law, forthcoming) and The Culture of Flushing: A 
Social and Legal History of Sewage (UBC Press, 2007).

In addition to these academic interests, Jamie has been actively involved in 
the public policy process through his work with a number of royal 
commissions and inquiries, most recently the Walkerton inquiry. He has also 
held several administrative positions with professional and academic 
organizations and is currently Co-Director of the IUCN Academy of 
Environmental Law whose international Secretariat is located at the 
University of Ottawa.

His ongoing research projects centre on governance regimes for watersheds, 
biodiversity and sustainable development in Canada, a social history of the 
Lake of the Woods, and the regulation of beer and breweries. Jamie’s 
non-academic interests in canoeing and wilderness travel have also led to a 
number of publications, including Idleness, Water and A Canoe (University of 
Toronto Press).