This past set of readings really made me realize how waste is not just a physical problem \u2014 it’s deeply political. Waste can be used to challenge oppressive systems by making failure visible. In Sarah Moore\u2019s article on Oaxaca, waste became a symbol of resistance. When the government stopped collecting garbage during political protests, the streets filled with trash, forcing people to confront inequality and government dysfunction. Similarly, the #YouStink movement in Lebanon showed how waste could become a public protest tool. The government\u2019s failure to deal with garbage wasn\u2019t just about environmental harm \u2014 it symbolized corruption and collapse. People took to the streets not just because of the smell, but because waste made injustice impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, waste can also be used as a tool of domination. In both Oaxaca and Lebanon, it was often poorer communities that suffered the worst impacts. Those in power can \u201cweaponize\u201d waste by deciding who has to live with it, reinforcing class and political inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, reading speculative fiction such as Asimov\u2019s Strikebreaker<\/em> and Morris\u2019s News from Nowhere<\/em> added another layer. Fiction showed me how different social relations \u2014 more communal, less hierarchical \u2014 could lead to a world where waste is no longer hidden or shameful, but either eliminated or managed collectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, studying waste through both real-world movements and fiction helped me see it as a powerful political tool. Waste exposes what a society values \u2014 and what it tries to hide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This past set of readings really made me realize how waste is not just a physical problem \u2014 it’s deeply political. Waste can be used to challenge oppressive systems by making failure visible. In Sarah Moore\u2019s article on Oaxaca, waste became a symbol of resistance. When the government stopped collecting garbage during political protests, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140479,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[98,101],"class_list":["post-2923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-waste-rebellions","tag-waste-utopias"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kira Rose Le Duff","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/author\/leduff\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140479"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2924,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2923\/revisions\/2924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/recycle2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}