The Politics of Water Vapor: Mold and Moisture in London Homes

Mold has become a growing public health concern. This article approaches mold, a health hazard carried by the air, through a focus on something else that is carried by the air: water vapor. Tracing water vapor through the homes of economically and racially marginalized residents in West London, I examine how the growth of mold is shaped by three hydrosocial dynamics: vaporization, the production of water vapor through practices of inhabitation; advection, the movement of water vapor out of homes through ventilation; and condensation, the transformation of water vapor into a liquid as it meets cold, unheated surfaces. I argue that there is a politics to water vapor, which is manifest as water cycles through homes and bodies. A focus on water vapor highlights the phase change as a key moment in socioenvironmental relations and the stakes surrounding efforts to control the movement of an invisible, gaseous substance. Water in its vaporous form is just as culturally embedded, technologically mediated, socioeconomically unjust, and politically fraught as its liquid counterpart.