The Social Life of Trash

Course Description

Summary

The last decade has seen an explosion of people around the world making everyday products- handbags, books, cups, jewelry, art, bricks, etc.- from residual materials that are destined for the landfill. In addition to demonstrating concern over environmental issues, their endeavors demonstrate how repurposing can be an individual, social, and collective right. Using primarily ethnographies from the anthropology of trash, this class explores the "social life" of trash through questions such as: What is the relationship between society and the trash it produces in a globalized world? How is value created through the circulation of trash?