Culture and Waste : The Creation and Destruction of Value

Waste is a key category for understanding cultural value. It is not just the 'bad stuff' we dispose of; it is material we constantly struggle to redeem. Cultures seem to spend as much energy reclassifying negativity as they do on establishing the negative itself. The huge tertiary sector devoted to waste management converts garbage into money, while ecological movements continue to stress human values and 'the natural.' But the problems waste poses are never simply economic or environmental. The international contributors to this collection ask us to pause and consider the complex ways in which value is created and destroyed. Their diverse approaches of ethics, philosophy, cultural studies, and politics are at the forefront of a new field of 'ecohumanites.' Introduction: Cultural Economies Of Waste / Gay Hawkins, Stephen Meucke -- Out Of Australia / David M. Halperin -- Miasma / Michael Taussig -- Invidious Distinction: Waste, Difference, And Classy Stuff / John Frow -- Down The Drain: Shit And The Politics Of Disturbance / Gay Hawkins -- Decolonizing The Discourse Of Environmental Knowledge In Settler Societies / Deborah Bird Rose -- Psychic Waste: Freud, Fechner, And The Principle Of Constancy / Suzanne Raitt -- Hollywood's Pacific Junk: The Wreckage Of Colonial History In Six Days And Seven Nights And Rapa Nui / Jonathan Gil Harris, Anna Neill -- Trash As Archive, Trash As Enlightenment / Patricia Yaeger -- Devastation / Stephen Muecke. Edited By Gay Hawkins, Stephen Muecke. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 129-136) And Index. Waste is a key category for understanding cultural value. It is not just the "bad stuff" we dispose of; it is material we constantly struggle to redeem. Cultures seem to spend as much energy reclassifying negativity as they do on establishing the negative itself. The huge tertiary sector devoted to waste management converts garbage into money, while ecological movements continue to stress human values and "the natural." But the problems waste poses are never simply economic or environmental. The international contributors to this collection ask us to consider the complex ways in which value is created and destroyed. Their diverse approaches of ethics, philosophy, cultural studies, and politics are at the forefront of a new field of "ecohumanites." [from publisher's advertisement]