Events

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Qian Hui Tan, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Massive volumes of plastic materials flow around the world, propelled by commerce, ocean currents and their own durability. Scientific and public recognition of problems associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of plastics have developed substantially in recent decades, triggering the beginnings of public and corporate policy responses. Such necessary structural changes were preceded, and can be usefully informed, by household-level actions to live with(out) plastics.

This presentation draws from accounts shared by 35 people in urban Australia who identified themselves as avoiding plastic. I describe what is involved in the substantial efforts that these people undertake to avoid plastics and identify forms of action: mental, material, social and spatial. I outline the reasons that people avoid plastics and examine the role of affect in lived experiences of avoiding plastics.

Building on this empirical survey of people’s experiences, I offer ways to understand what is happening when people avoid plastics at the household level. I argue that efforts to avoid plastics amount to care work, and that this represents an expansion of gendered responsibility in households. I argue that these efforts are necessary to redistribute the responsibilities (or roles) that plastic materials take on in our lives. I also argue that these efforts can be understood as a ‘material politics of plastic’ and characterise and contextualise this novel form of politics.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

David O. Reynolds is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore. His research is shaped by an interest in food and waste, a curiosity about politics and practicality in people’s lives, and a concern with sustainability and social justice issues. His PhD thesis in Human Geography (Monash University, Melbourne) investigated the experiences, practices and perspectives of people who avoid using plastic materials in their households in Australia. He has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters about waste, food and sustainability issues. His current research at ARI investigates the household consumption and disposal of plastic materials, and the social, historical and digital practices that shape household management of plastic waste in Asia and Australia, with a focus on women’s experiences.

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this hybrid talk has been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to aritm@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the event.