Hardback : $59.84
Explores the concept of waste from fresh historical, cultural, and geographical perspectives.
Garbage is often assumed to be an inevitable part and problem of human existence. But when did people actually come to think of things as trash, as becoming worthless over time or through use, as having an end?
Unmaking Waste tackles these questions through a long-term, cross-cultural approach. Using archaeological finds, historic documents, and ethnographic observations to examine Europe, the United States, and Central America from prehistory to the present, Sarah Newman traces how different ideas about waste took shape in different times and places. Newman examines what is considered waste and how people interact with it, as well as what happens when different perceptions of trash come into contact and conflict. Understandings of waste have shaped forms of reuse and renewal in ancient Mesoamerica, early modern ideas of civility and forced religious conversion in New Spain, and even the modern discipline of archaeology. Newman argues that centuries of assumptions imposed on other places, times, and peoples need to be rethought. The result is not only a broad reconsideration of waste but also new forms of archaeology that do not take garbage for granted. Unmaking Waste reveals that waste is not—and never has been—an obvious or universal concept.
Explores the concept of waste from fresh historical, cultural, and geographical perspectives.
Garbage is often assumed to be an inevitable part and problem of human existence. But when did people actually come to think of things as trash, as becoming worthless over time or through use, as having an end?
Unmaking Waste tackles these questions through a long-term, cross-cultural approach. Using archaeological finds, historic documents, and ethnographic observations to examine Europe, the United States, and Central America from prehistory to the present, Sarah Newman traces how different ideas about waste took shape in different times and places. Newman examines what is considered waste and how people interact with it, as well as what happens when different perceptions of trash come into contact and conflict. Understandings of waste have shaped forms of reuse and renewal in ancient Mesoamerica, early modern ideas of civility and forced religious conversion in New Spain, and even the modern discipline of archaeology. Newman argues that centuries of assumptions imposed on other places, times, and peoples need to be rethought. The result is not only a broad reconsideration of waste but also new forms of archaeology that do not take garbage for granted. Unmaking Waste reveals that waste is not—and never has been—an obvious or universal concept.
List of Illustrations
Introduction: A Fortress of Indestructible Leftovers
1. Throwaway Living
2. Archaeologies of Garbage
3. Cleanliness and Godliness
4. Dirty Work
5. Things Left Behind
6. Anamorphic Archaeology
Conclusion: A Weakness in Our Imaginations?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Sarah Newman is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago.
“Newman uses an archaeological lens to pose deep questions for
our understanding of human waste management, including our very
definitions of what constitutes ‘waste’: the result is a
timely and original intervention that will resonate across
disciplines and offer fresh perspectives on contemporary
environmentalist movements.”
*David Wengrow, coauthor of The Dawn of Everything*
“‘Trash talk’ at its finest, this epic and engaging book reimagines
how we should think about both the history of archaeology and our
present-day pollution crisis. Destabilizing taken-for-granted
assumptions about garbage, Unmaking Waste excavates multiple
understandings of trash and time across centuries of Mesoamerican,
European, and Euroamerican history.”
*Byron Hamann, author of The Invention of the Colonial
Americas*
"Newman provides an excellent historiography of how the discipline
has approached and interpreted discarded materials using a northern
European-based, capitalist economic paradigm. One of her main
points is that research across all cultures in the present and past
has been underscored by capitalism’s expectations, goals, and
problems. To challenge this, she turns to Mesoamerica as a space to
analyze pre-European exchanges through to the present. The result
is a fascinating history of material culture use, from precontact
to modern times, which provides alternative models for dealing with
trash."
*Choice*
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