Garbage matters

Abstract

In this article, I critically review important concepts in new geographies of waste. I focus on both the conceptual frameworks that are used to examine issues concerning waste and the political possibilities produced by understanding waste differently. By plotting a range of concepts of waste along two axes – positive versus negative definitions of waste, and dualist versus relational concepts of waste and society – I contextualize scholarship on waste within the broader discussion about the ‘rematerialization’ of geography and social science. Understanding when, how, and why waste matters provides a fruitful lens for examining contemporary sociospatial processes.