This chapter from the virtual exhibition “The Life of Waste” considers the ways in which waste relates to power. It aligns with power structures, can be an empowering feature, or possess power in and of itself.
This chapter introduces the virtual exhibition “The Life of Waste.” Historian Simone M. Müller discusses six truisms of waste, namely “everything is waste, waste is a matter of perspective, waste needs to be managed, waste is life, waste has power and waste has an expiration date.”
Jennifer Clapp examines the nature of international trade in toxic waste and the roles of multinational corporations and environmental NGOs. Waste transfer has become a routine practice for firms in industrialized countries and poor countries accept these imports but struggle to manage the materials safely. She argues that governments have failed to recognize the voices of protest.
Stefan Skrimshire considers the ethical question of how to communicate with future human societies in terms of long-term disposal of radioactive fuel. He proposes that the confessional form (as propagated by Saint Augustine and critiqued by Derrida) may become increasingly pertinent to activists, artists, and faith communities making sense of humanity’s ethical commitments in deep time.
Nuclear Humanities showcases interdisciplinary approaches to the problem of nuclear harm through a five-day workshop sponsored by Whitman College’s 2016 O’Donnell Endowed Chair in Global Studies.
Astrid M. Eckert’s West Germany and the Iron Curtain takes a fresh look at the history of Cold War Germany and the German reunification process from the spatial perspective of the West German borderlands that emerged along the volatile inter-German border after 1945.
In this episode from the New Books Network podcast, Kate Brown is interviewed on her new book, Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future.
A reflection on the Sustainabile Development Goals (SDGs) in environmental history.
