Sociology of Garbage

Catalog description

Contemporary societies create huge mountains of trash. What does this garbage reveal about the societies we live in and how they change over time? What does it obscure? This course uses garbage multiple kinds of waste materials produced by humans as a lens for exploring issues of capitalism and industrialization, environmentalism, postcolonialism, and race/caste. Taking a global and historical approach, we will become familiar with theories that help us to understand these perspectives and consider case studies from around the world, with a particular focus on cities.