We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
The decaying stuff of the Anthropocene: exploring contemporary trashscapes through ruination
Summary
This paper is not primarily a scientific study of microplastic pollution. It is a humanities/social theory article that uses the concept of 'ruination' to philosophically examine how waste and trash are transforming landscapes in the Anthropocene era, arguing that collective wastage is turning natural environments into 'trashscapes.'
In this article, we take the notion of ruination beyond crumbling built structures and use it to explore contemporary trashscapes. With the waste produced by humanity scaling up to encompass the entire planet, we examine life with and in the ruins of the Anthropocene, where there is no Away to which the rejectamenta could be expelled and thus set apart from humans. On the one hand, we scrutinise waste as matter in a ruined state, subject to and resulting from a process of ruination; waste is a trace of an anterior presence that remains and continues to haunt us. On the other hand, we argue that collective wastage is turning the natural environment itself into ruins and landscapes into trashscapes. Towards the end of the article, we also stress the disruptive qualities of ruination and decay and discuss the renewed sensibilities evoked by waste. A life with waste in a world of Anthropocenic ruination amounts to a life that is not in complete control of itself but rather is inextricably entangled with otherness.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Waste Journeys
This multidisciplinary study examined plastic waste as a material of the Anthropocene by tracing the journeys of plastic objects across cultural, natural, marine, and terrestrial landscapes, exploring how plastic's resilience makes it a defining and problematic artifact of modern civilization.
In the Shadow of Death
This theoretical paper examines how awareness of ecological crises in the Anthropocene has generated radical environmental activism and utopian thinking about future sustainable societies. The broader Anthropocene context includes growing microplastic contamination as one of the defining features of human-caused environmental change.
Por uma arqueologia do antropoceno: tempo, identidade e novos artefactos numa nova era
This Portuguese-language archaeology paper discusses the emergence of 'Anthropocene Archaeology' — the study of human artifacts and materials from the current geological era of human dominance. Plastics, including microplastics, are among the defining material markers of the Anthropocene that will be part of this archaeological record.
Anthropocene Ouroboros
This ethnographic study explores how plastic objects on an Indian Ocean island shatter and disperse into microplastics, complicating our understanding of geological time. Researchers argue that because microplastics can migrate through sedimentary layers and infiltrate earlier geological strata, they disrupt the very framework used to delineate the Anthropocene. The paper examines the cultural and temporal implications of plastic pollution as a defining material of the modern era.
The Anthroposcenic: Landscape in the Anthroposcene
This humanities essay uses photography of the Somerset floods as a starting point for exploring how human-caused environmental change reshapes landscapes and cultural meaning. While philosophical in nature, the work relates to the Anthropocene concept that frames debates about microplastic pollution as a planetary-scale problem.