New Book Presents Research from "Waste and Society," a project from the RCC/LMU
Inwastement: Abfall in Umwelt und Gesellschaft
26.02.2016
“If we ask the question of why waste exists, we face ourselves, our history, our society and our future—that’s why we find waste so intriguing” – Jens Kersten
Waste has its own social, economic and ecological agency. The social practices, legal norms and cultural contexts related to waste form what we might call the “inwastement” of a society. Connecting the materiality of waste with its cultural perception, the papers in this volume examine waste and the technologies connected with it as a cultural practice. This interdisciplinary perspective highlights the importance of topics such as our problematic relationship to waste and our individual and collective responsibility for it, and asks questions about global “waste justice” and our need for a “zero waste” future.
The Inwastement volume arose from the research cluster “Waste and Society” of the RCC together with LMU’s Center for Advanced Studies. Published in German by Transcript, the issue includes contributions from: Soraya Heuss-Aßbichler, Claudia R. Binder, Eveline Dürr, Gisela Grupe, Rüdiger Haum, Michael Jedelhauser, Jens Kersten, Roman Köster, Reinhold Leinfelder, Christof Mauch, Wolfram Mauser, Karen Pittel, Gerhard Rettenberger, Helmuth Trischler, Markus Vogt, and David Wagner.
A number of the contributors are also members of the Academic Board of the RCC doctoral program in Environment and Society—we greatly look forward to hearing about their future projects and collaborations!