Every Heaven requires its Hell: the consume & discard society and the invisible city

• The paper unfolds how the effectiveness and invisibility of waste urban infrastructures contribute to the de-naturalisation of waste by ‘black-boxing’ the link between the citizens’ consumption habits and the growing mountain of waste; with the participation of human and non-human intermediaries (e.g. waste-vacuum-system, dark plastic bags, locked containers). The paper also discusses how environmental policies inverting the process of visibilisation of waste (e.g. education at schools, study visits, recycling containers, waste collection invoices) can contribute to reconnect processes of consumption and disposal in the contemporary city. The city of Gothenburg and its waste management system serves as an illustration.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

waste; city; urban infrastructures; invisibility; consumption

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)