The Idea of Waste
On the Limits of Human Life
A compelling rumination on detritus as an essential, meaningful, yet often problematic facet of human existence.
This book starts with the premise that waste is inevitable in human society. The Idea of Waste explores how we have grappled with both the material reality and the spectre of this shape-shifting phenomenon throughout history – utilising it, dreaming of overcoming it, yet never escaping it. John Scanlan explores what waste is and why it seems to be intrinsic to human life, at every turn, in every age and epoch. Finally, he demonstrates how waste never disappears, but rather only proliferates anew. The compelling narrative shows waste to be both an enduring material consequence of human activity and an idea or state of being.
John Scanlan is a cultural historian at the University of Central Lancashire. His previous books include On Garbage (2005), Memory: Encounters with the Strange and the Familiar (2013) and Rock ’n’ Roll Plays Itself (2022), all published by Reaktion Books.
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