1. DICKENS’ STORIES IN OUR DAYS
Asja Alic V BLS /2015

2. David Copperfield today:
child labor in the 21° century
The new Coketown:
industrial pollution

3. CHILD LABOR
Child labor refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) provides assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.
The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), founded in 1992, aims to eliminate child labour.

4. CHILD LABOR DURING VICTORIAN AGE
According to Jane Humphries and her researches, England had more than a million child workers between the 4 and 18 years old– accounting for 15 per cent of the total labor force.
Because of their small size and small fingers children were mostly sent in tinny coal mine tunnels, cotton mills and glass factories .
They were young and could be easily malleable.
They were also cheaper than adults, indeed they were paid only the 10%-15% of the adults’ salary
They used to work 12 hours a day and other times even during the night
Most of them were abused both physically both verbally.

5. Most of them were abused both physically both verbally.
Charles Dickens writes in 1849 «David Copperfield» and in “Oliver Twist”.
David Copperfield and Oliver Twist are the reincarnation of Charles Dickens who had worked in young age in a factory.
The two figures became symbols of an exploited childhood confronted with the sad realities of slums and factories.

6. CHILD LABOR TODAY
After the ONU Convention about the Rights of the Child in 1989
Around 13 per cent of children aged 5 to 14 in developing countries are involved in child labor
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of child laborers (25 per cent of children aged 5 to 14 years).
Agriculture remains by far the most important sector where child laborers can be found
In almost all regions, boys and girls are equally likely to be involved in child labor.
Many important industries exploit children as:
Nike, Adidas, Mattel, Chicco, Benetton, Reebok
Levis, Chiquita, Mondo ,Nestlè …
An ONU research about child labor

7. INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION DURING THE VICTORIAN AGE
The growth of the major industrial cities also caused water pollution.
London was infamous for its combinations of smoke and fog -> air pollution causing death rates to rise
Following the Great London Smog legislation was introduced and the first Clean Air Act was passed in 1956

8. POLLUTION IN COKETOWN
The name of the city is composed by two words: “Coke” which means “carbone” the typical material used by industries and factories- “town” which means “città”.
The coke-coal was a toxic material which caused the pollution of air and the emission of carbon dioxide
With “interminable serpents of smoke” Dickens describes the long smoke clouds which went out from the chimneys and dispersed in the sky.
“It has a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye” is a clear reference to water pollution.

9. POLLUTION TODAY Today the main consequences are :
water pollution essentially cause by oil spills, urban runoff and ocean dumping
soil pollution is creating problems in agriculture and destroying local vegetation. It also causes chronic health issues to the people that come in contact with such soil on a daily basis.
air pollution rises from burning of fossil fuels, hydraulic fracturing and gases emitted by vehicles
wildlife extinction Habitats are being lost, species are becoming extinct and it is harder for the environment to recover from each natural disaster
global warming Smoke and greenhouse gases are being released by industries into the air which causes increase in global warming

10. Among the new pollution control strategies covered are:
Regulations, treatment techniques, and disposal methods for hazardous wastes
Direct steelmaking processes that reduce pollution
Non-chlorine pulp bleaching sequences that curtail
production of toxic substances such as dioxin
Secondary fiber utilization and reduction of PCB emissions
Resource recovery from sludges and ashes
Chemical spill containment and cleanup
Uses of degradation and recycling to reduce plastics waste

11. BIBLIOGRAFIA CHILD LABOR: INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION:
David Copperfield and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Culture and Litterature: From the origins to the Nineteenth Century
Compito di recupero: Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution by Jane Humphries, published by Cambridge University Press.
INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION:
Performer Culture and Litterature: From the origins to the Nineteenth Century
Hard Times (Coketown and Mr.Bounderby) by Charles Dickens