Collections

Multiplicity in the World of Waste

Based on the assumption that modern societies produce a world of waste, this Special Collection focuses on the multiplicity of and around waste. By illuminating the multiple qualities and relations of waste, the Special Collection tackles waste as a relational and complex category.

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The Bag and Beyond: Social Science and the Social Life of Plastic

Plastic has elevated the role of social science in the innovation space, which has traditionally been occupied by science and enterprise. This special collection examines the multiplicity of plastics, aiming towards a deeper engagement with socio-material processes.

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Dirty Places, Geographies of Waste

If waste is material we failed to use, a dirty place is a space we failed to clean. This special collection sheds light on the ‘where’ of waste, corners that are contrary to ethics, taste, profit and health.

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Development of Waste – Development as Waste

This special collection addresses waste as a manifestation and component of global development by discussing various case studies. By being an expression of how societies deal with the unwanted, waste policies reveal the variety of shapes development can take.

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Reuse and Repair

This special collection focuses on interdisciplinary issues of reuse and repair.

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Unpacking Food and Drink

Food packaging becomes increasingly scrutinised, as plastic pollution gains public attention. This special collection transcends the simplistic interpretation of packaging as waste by interrogating the social, economic, political, cultural and aesthetic aspects of packaging, in its contemporary and historical dimensions.

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