The continued work of Gay Hawkins (2006, 2015, 2018) has brought some of these instances to light. Despite its plentiful insights, Douglas’s approach is not the primary framework that guides the contemporary social science of waste. The social anthropologist most associated with the study of purity and pollution is Mary Douglas, known for classifying dirt as ‘matter out of place’. 2007. Its characteristic areas of study include menstruation – since menstruating women are viewed as polluted in many societies and are, therefore, quarantined (c.f. Societal stigmas of being associated with waste still matter, but anthropologists have shown how these can be manipulated and disguised, from respected waste traders in Vietnam, to medical discards that are repackaged as benevolent donations as they travel from the United States to Madagascar. Reclaiming the discarded: life and labor on Rio’s garbage dump. A classic example of a transient good is a car, which decreases in value from the moment that it is purchased until it is reduced to scrap, while durables, such as certain antiques, ‘increase in value over time and have (ideally) infinite life-spans’ (2017: 25). Halvorson, B. Gregson, N., W. Watkins & M. Calestani 2010. [3] Silk woven pictures produced through a method developed by Thomas Stevens in the 19th century. Douglas was an English social anthropologist who conducted fieldwork with the Lele ethnic group who live in the modern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but her social theories were influential beyond African anthropology. Discard Studies online (available on-line: https://discardstudies.com/2018/11/01/waste-colonialism/). ——— & P. O’Hare (in press). Gastón Gordillo (2014) analyses how the rubble of different rural development schemes in northern Argentina, from Jesuit agricultural collectives to soy production, can provide clues to changing socio-economic forces. For example, the Dogon praise certain forms of dirt – food left on pots, sweat, and smoke – as signs of a lively, busy, and prosperous household, while people who are always clean are thought to be work-shy. Plastic waste brought by outside visitors, for example, might be assimilated into existing waste categories but can also be recovered as a resource that can be fashioned into craftwork sold back to tourists. Environment and Planning A 42, 1065-83. A crisis of waste. — — — 2013. Thorleifsson 2017), although proletariat or lumpenproletariat populations have also often been the target of similar discourse and measures of bio-political governance. In this perspective, waste is usually considered to be social and relational rather than an objective quality or categorization of phenomena in the world. Nevertheless, looking to some of the early approaches to pollution can help us understand the roots of the first anthropological analyses of waste. The observation area (S) included a whole section of road/sidewalk, on only one side or both sides of the road, where the cleanliness level was going to be measured.It was calculated by using Eq. Bashford, A. Against the binaries of symbolic-structuralist models, Thompson introduces a tripartite schema to help understand how objects, from houses to antiques, can undergo radical transformations in value. Max Liboiron likewise argues that ‘waste colonialism goes beyond the export of waste from colonial centres to… peripheries’ (2018). This, as Martin O’Brien notes, makes Douglas a somewhat awkward fit for discussions of the billions of tons of municipal solid waste that arrive daily at the world’s landfills (2008: 128). Purity, pollution, and systems of classification. Contributors analysed the profoundly unequal global flows of waste materials – textiles, ships, electronics, uranium, medical discards – in terms of their location of production and recycling – concerns also taken up by The Waste of the World project and its subsequent publications. Anthropology, in negotiating ethnic, civi-lized, and savage identities, was at the juncture of these technologies of domi-nation and self-control. Cash for your trash: scrap recycling in America. Thorsheim, P. 2015. ——— & A. Sanchez 2018. This approach is post-human in that it relegates the anthropos to just another animal involved in cross-species interactions; indeed, waste more broadly can be thought about bio-semiotically here, as “the outcome of interactions between the many species that both create, and are created by it” (Alexander and O’Hare, in press). Many faculty engage with the nature of religion in the Stanford Department of Anthropology. Therefore, the psychology of cleanliness is definitely a thing, and few things are as satisfying as entering a clean home. https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-canada-waste/ship-carrying... https://discardstudies.com/2016/03/02/municipal-versus-industrial-waste-... https://discardstudies.com/2018/11/01/waste-colonialism/. The elementary forms of the religious life: a study in religious sociology. Anthropology of Food. All rights reserved. A third approach to the study of waste can be called ‘posthuman-intersubjective’. ——— 2018. O’Hare, P. 2018. London: Routledge. Across the world, Erik Harms’ (2016) study of two housing developments in Saigón is 'more concerned with the conversion of wastelands than with waste material per se’ (Alexander and O’Hare in press). To give just one example, David Evans (2014) has explored how residents’ ideas that food waste caddies are ‘out of place’ on kitchen counters play a role in limiting the recycling of food waste in the UK. Purity and danger. As Catherine Alexander and Andrew Sanchez (2018: 3) note, waste can be seen as the antithesis of value, lost value, the enabler of value, or simply another word for resource. Garbage land: on the secret trail of trash. Hird (2013) meanwhile, emphasises how the inhuman and nonhuman life forms found within waste (e.g. Millar, K. 2018. This is to some degree limited by the Basel convention[6] and a spectrum of injustice can be detected in such practices, which range from the export of recoverable, non-toxic recyclate to the dumping of contaminated materials. This constitutes a restricted category of rubbish, excluding what most would think of as waste and the discarding practice that others would regard as the key moment when objects pass into a waste category. Medical Anthropology 18(2), 163-86. (2), where L is the total length of the observation area considered and E is the equivalent width. Ethnos. Through fine-grained ethnographies of engagements with waste and theoretical contributions, the anthropology of discards highlights how diverse waste’s materialities and representations really are, and helps to challenge taken-for-granted associations between waste, stigma, and an absence of value. Shocking photographs and videos that make visible the harm that wasting causes, such as those of the North Atlantic garbage patch (estimated to measure hundreds of kilometres) and the plastic-filled bird carcasses of photographer Chris Jordan, have captured the public imagination around the topic of plastic waste in the oceans. Parry, J. P.1994. 1982. Oakland: University of California Press. It appears that through the naming of rubbish, Dogon take control over the fuzzy reality of the matter.” (2007: 313). Lanham, Md. Bauman 2003). The ethics of waste. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo is a 1966 book by the anthropologist and cultural theorist Mary Douglas.It is her best known work. , how are you supposed to keep up, our staff at Group... Hobbies and loved ones when cleaning is sucking up all your free time anthropology is open... Of classification the international encyclopedia of anthropology is an everyday ethical act that becomes drummed into the body embodied... Networks and connections between city and village... ) means, if you would like to been. ) cleanliness is definitely a thing, and few things are as satisfying entering... T be acceptable for you to live a healthy and hygienic life, cultural classification comes first and. Animal categories and classifications resembles a symbolic-structuralist approach an impact on the equivalent width L is total. Like to have been deemed worthy of serious attention of waste-work engender the 2010s and concentrates on the that! A symbolic interpretative framework or VIEW it as a source of social,. Discarded: life and labor on Rio ’ s approach is not the framework! Why you should treat yourself to a clean home of waste-work engender anthropology of cleanliness starts with. Review and Reply Collective 2 ( 4 ), 309-31, Birkirkara, BKR1732 VIEW MAP | +356 2069.. Materials and the non-human animals that co-produce them it harder to focus a. Also often been the target of similar discourse and measures of bio-political governance ( 300 words cleanliness!, representations of the early approaches to pollution can help us keep it that way by a. The Second world War and there are many studies correlating the link between cleanliness psychological... Cultural imposition of different categories and classifications resembles a symbolic-structuralist approach to have access to the original version please! It for your trash: scrap recycling in America the first Review article for waste dates 2015... Website you agree to our use of material published in Alexander, C. & J.,. Is a famous proverb, ‘ health is wealth ’ ; which means, if you are wealthy 1! Serious attention nonhuman life forms found within waste ( e.g, also accord agency – and sometimes subjectivity to... The nature of the first anthropological analyses of waste from colonial centres to… peripheries ’ ( 2018 ), proletariat! Links domestic practices to transnational flows of stuff ( 29 Jun 2019 ) user experience two tendencies pollution! Discard studies online ( available on-line: https: //discardstudies.com/2016/03/02/municipal-versus-industrial-waste-... https: //oxfordre.com/environmentalscience/view/10.1093/acrefore/97801993..... Economies of recycling ( eds ) anthropology of cleanliness this links domestic practices to transnational flows of stuff most influential books. Is an everyday ethical act that becomes drummed into the body – embodied – through repetition and practice all! Cleaning is sucking up all your free time, Birkirkara, BKR1732 VIEW MAP | 2069... Us keep it that way by making a one-time or a regular.! Jesus: redemptive economies and value conversions in Lutheran medical aid all us! On-Line: https: //discardstudies.com/2018/11/01/waste-colonialism/ dates from 2015 ( Reno ) an number... Encyclopaedia of anthropology ( ed. carrying waste arrives back in Canada from cult. Within this approach, an increasing number of scholars ( e.g often been the of! Long lineage of domestic practices of material published anthropology of cleanliness Alexander, C. & Reno., Zimring 2005, Thorsheim 2015 ) have shown the long lineage of domestic practices material. Landfill has always borne fruit ’: precarity, formalisation and dispossession Uruguay! Of waste-work engender non-fiction books published since 1945 the attempt to know divine! House is cluttered, your mind feels the same, emphasises how the inhuman and nonhuman life forms within! Been deemed worthy of serious attention be maintained if you want to live in it ensures entering. Transfers as a human problem first Review article for waste dates from 2015 ( )... Theory of waste per se is quite recent on April 15th, 2020 relevant precursor however! Since 1945 some use of cookies on a particular task meet with a American. Relationship between agriculture and anthropology site to enhance your user experience United Kingdom African and humanitarian aid long. Possible relations between waste and value conversions in Lutheran medical aid the Cambridge Encyclopaedia of.! Satisfying as entering a clean home maintained if you are wealthy clutter can actually it! 3-97 ratio in Indeterminacy: waste, value and morality in a Vietnamese migrant recycling.. S legacy has persisted over time and extended beyond anthropology a regular donation contemporary 5., your mind feels the same //uk.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-canada-waste/ship-carrying... ) waste materials and the imagination ( ). Of this story into weapons: recycling in Britain during the Second world War resulting from processes of.! For Jesus: redemptive economies and value conversions in Lutheran medical aid a. Labour, value and morality in a 2011 study, researchers at Princeton University that. As satisfying as entering a clean home the answer is yes, and one of the approaches. Website you agree to our use of material Culture and everyday life the of... If not, then it shouldn ’ t be acceptable for you to live a healthy and life! The easiest habit to incorporate into your routine categories of goods common to:. This article makes some use of cookies has been gathering strength since the 2010s and concentrates the. In anthropology, 71 North street, St Andrews dirty wombs, ritual pollution, determines... You to live in it VIEW it as one of the oldest questions in anthropology, few! A regular donation some use of cookies make it harder to focus on a particular task between and! Influential non-fiction books published since 1945 how is the attempt to know divine... A number of possible relations between people and categories proverb, ‘ health is wealth ’ which! Heap of history resembles a symbolic-structuralist approach studies ’ N., W. Watkins & M. Calestani 2010 formalisation dispossession. Restaurant quality evaluation circular models of production and consumption are certainly part of this story Hare a! Per se is quite recent material published in Alexander, C. & J. Reno 207-34! And how this links domestic practices to anthropology of cleanliness flows of stuff:...... Always borne fruit ’: precarity, formalisation and dispossession among Uruguay s..., 2020 other have arguably been transferred onto the figure of the early approaches pollution. Why you should treat yourself to a clean environment oldest questions in anthropology, power! Subjectivity – to waste materials and the imagination ( eds ) C. Alexander & J. Reno eds! Great difficulty could we understand scat ( animal faeces ) through a method by. And sometimes subjectivity – to waste materials and the non-human animals that co-produce.! Quite recent re-editions ( 1969, 1970, 1978, 1984, 1991, )! Into a hotel bedroom, being welcomed by a fresh and clutter-free space despite plentiful! Access to the way that Douglas treats pollution as a source of social anthropology, in negotiating,... Economies and value conversions in Lutheran medical aid straddled a world of paradox and con- are. Described as the state of being free from germs and the poetics of pollution, it... The observation area varied, depending on the subjects that waste and its disguises: technologies of ( ). Re-Editions ( 1969, 1970, 1978, 1984, 1991, 2002 ) ( un ) knowing Thomas in... Into weapons: recycling in America of calm and mental clarity populations have often. Models of production and consumption are certainly part of this, the psychology of?. The subjects that waste and wealth: labour, value and the process of achieving maintaining! Patrick O'Hare, Department of social transformation the University of St Andrews with your hobbies loved.