Is it possible for individuals to tackle waste by recycling, reusing and reducing alone? This provocative book critically analyses the widespread assumption that individuals and households have created our global waste crisis. Sociologist and waste expert Myra J. Hird reveals neoliberal capitalism's fallacy of infinite growth as the real culprit, and demonstrates how industry and local governments work in tandem to deflect our attention away from the real causes of our global waste problem. Hird offers crucial insights into the relations between waste and wider societal issues including ongoing (settler) colonialism, poverty, racism and sexism, and showcases how sociology may provide solutions through a 'pubic imagination' of waste.
ISBN-13: 9781529206562
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Publication Date: 12-01-2023
Pages: 158
Product Dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)
Series: Public Sociology
Myra J. Hird is Professor in the School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s Universityin Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
What People are Saying About This
From the Publisher
“This is essential and long awaited reading for sociologists interested in the ubiquitous role of waste in society. It rigorously demonstrates how and why the burden of waste is unequally distributed.” Tora Holmberg, Uppsala University
“In her powerful analysis and critique of waste ‘management’, Hird illuminates the neglected socio-ethical implications of waste and our understanding of it.” Romain Garcier, University of Lyon
Table of Contents
1. The Public Problem of Waste 2. Framing Waste 3. The Public Problem of Recycling 4. The Public Problem of Plastics 5. The Public Problem of PPE Waste and Being Prepared 6. A Public Sociology of Waste
