Unmaking Waste: New Histories of Old Things

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. Drawing on archaeological finds, historical documents, and ethnographic observations to examine Europe, the United States, and Central America from prehistory to the present, Sarah Newman traces how different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 people consider to be "waste" and how they interact with it, as well as what happens when different perceptions of trash come into conflict. Conceptions 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. This book is not only a broad reconsideration of waste; it is also a call for 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.

Author: Sarah Newman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 05/26/2023
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.83lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9780226826394
ISBN10: 0226826392
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Anthropology | Cultural & Social
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies | American | Hispanic American Studies

About the Author
Sarah Newman is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago.