schaffer_hierarchy_of_quest

// In conclusion, let me summarize the key propositions that have emerged and that form the foundation of a social theory of waste. First, I have argued that waste is a social category. This is not a simple social constructionist ar- gument, however. Rather, I claim that there are social patterns of the social nature of waste. What appears to be unique in different time periods and different societies are the types of wastes produced (their material com- position); the key sources of waste production (for example, unutilized surplus or insufficient inputs) and the dominant mode of waste circulation and metamorphosis; the socially and culturally determined ways of misper- ceiving waste’s materiality; the ways in which, as a result, waste tends to ‘‘bite back’’; the cultural, political, and moral inclination to resolve waste’s liminality (inscribed negativity or positivity); and, finally, key struggles around waste (in the sphere of production or in the sphere of distr ////ibution).// //To systematically study these patterns I propose the term ‘‘**waste regime**.’’// // -- // Gille, Zsuzsa. 2007. "From the Cult of Waste to the Trash Heap of History: The Politics of Waste in Socialist and Postsocialist Hungary." p. 34

I bring that in just because the concept of "waste regime" is one of the things I've been pointing to, and I forget sometimes that putting the word "regime" at the end of something doesn't actually create a concept on its own. Waste regimes are an object I'd like to study, and I think compost and compost activism do some interesting things to waste regimes.

I will point out that the typo "hierarchy_of_quest" might be more telling than originally intended; these questions reflect a sort of waste "quest" that I want to embark on, into the strange corners of the American waste system, rather than a more organized research project.

Finally, I apologize for the tardiness! I was knocked out for a few days with a cold and too distracted to upload this.
 * How do waste regimes (Gille 2007) emerge, crystallize, reproduce themselves, change, fall apart?
 * What sort of waste regime are we (Americans? New York residents? Citizens of Troy? Apartment dwellers, people who dispose of things on RPI’s campus, people who work to change the way waste gets wasted in Troy) in right now?
 * What waste do [we] produce? How do [we] produce it? Where does waste go and what do [we] do it?
 * Waste audits might be able to illuminate this.
 * TIME PERMITTING: Brief phone interviews with people who design packaging. Why does this [product] need so much packaging? Not building a case, just looking for anecdotes. (Is that cool?) Gabrielle Hecht with the “But Mademoiselle, this is ALL political!” comment.
 * Honestly, mapping out a waste system in a region would be really useful. I’m sure geographers have done this. No?
 * What does waste do to us?
 * Street science has resources on health impact of transfer stations, there’s a lot of pop. Epidemiology work on chemical waste. Unclear how to say what municipal solid waste does to us.
 * Who understands waste? What kind of expertise is required there?
 * Who deals with waste?
 * How did our current waste regime come to be?
 * Histories of waste. Bill Dunn can provide access to archives maybe? Histories of Waste Connections might be harder to come by.
 * How do people get to understand their waste regime/understand it as a waste regime? What problems do people see in their waste regimes?
 * DPW workers: How do citizens fail to comply with DPW regulations when putting out trash? What parts of waste policy do people not understand/try to subvert?
 * DPW staff: What questions do citizens have about how waste works in Troy? Are there phone records for this?
 * DPW website: Examine for what it says about waste in Troy, where waste goes, etc.
 * CWG-C/Troy Compost members: How did we try to find out about waste policy? How did we decide what was wrong with waste policy?
 * o How do people/groups/policymakers try to change their waste regimes? How do they do so successfully?
 * Steve Breyman: What sorts of strategies have you used to influence waste practices in Troy? What was successful, what wasn’t?
 * Elsewhere: try to uncover origins of Recoloy, Eureka!: what conditions were necessary for these large corporations to emerge and become the main waste collectors in SF/Minneapolis?
 * Examine changes to waste regimes brought about by switch to pay-as-you-throw in MN, IA: What was the rationale for mandatory PAYT laws? What was the relationship between these laws and waste practices?
 * Examine changes in areas in which grassroots compost organizations emerge: What conditions allowed for the formation of these organizations, what sorts of impacts did they have on relationships with waste?
 * How do environmental problems get framed as such, and how does that framing influence policy/activism/businesses?
 * How do the environmental (and other) problems of our current waste regime get articulated by various groups?
 * Q: (for anyone?) Why is waste a problem?
 * Q: How did you first become aware of the waste problem?
 * How do these articulations influence action/regime change/proposed solutions to environmental problems?
 * Q: Why is (composting, recycling, source reduction, etc) a solution?
 * Q: What specific problems does this solution target?
 * How do framings of environmental problems influence one another/line up/reverberate?
 * Q: What do you think of [other group’s] efforts to solve the problem?