‘bad’ trash: problematising waste in blantyre, malawi
24 Jul 2020-Iss: 12, pp 187-200
TL;DR: In this paper, the Foucault's notion of "problematisa-tion" is used as an analytical lens for conceptualizing processes of problem formation through the eyes of two different groups working within and on the margins of Mzedi Dump Site in Blantyre, Malawi: subsistence maize growers and informal waste pickers.
Abstract: ‘Waste’ is everywhere, a common aspect of daily life in both the West and the Global South. However, the ways in which we as individuals understand it as a problem is far from universal. It does not exist independently from the people it affects, rather, waste, as a problem, is continually made and remade through human practice. The purpose of this article is to explore how and why certain ‘waste’ items are and become understood as problems. We adopt Foucault’s (1984) notion of ‘problematisa-tion’, as an analytical lens for conceptualising processes of problem formation through the eyes of two different groups working within and on the margins of Mzedi Dump Site in Blantyre, Malawi: subsistence maize growers and informal waste pickers. Drawing on extensive qualitative and ethnographic fieldwork, our findings suggests that for those working at Mzedi, waste problematisations are shaped by the tangible: the visible, and often painful impacts that Mzedi’s hazards have on their lives and livelihoods. However, the ultimate problematisation of waste lies in its utility, i.e. ‘good’ waste, is internalised based on its value. ‘Bad’ trash however, is problematised because it has no value, and is therefore considered useless, a problem taking up time and space that could be utilised more profit-ably. Understanding these processes of problem formation, and the degree to which waste problematisations are personal and/or socially constructed, has important ramifications for the adoption of appropriate waste management strategies and should inform a more nuanced and inclusive waste management studies discourse.
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TL;DR: In this article , the authors examined the literature on waste pickers around the world, their working and living conditions, and explored the issue of formalisation, and found that formalization can potentially bring considerable improvement to the lives of waste picks, including legal recognition, safe working conditions and fair bargaining mechanisms.
Abstract: Across the globe, the livelihood of millions of people relies on the recovery and sale of valuable materials previously discarded as waste. In developed countries, this is mainly incorporated into the official recycling and resources recovery sector, while in developing countries the informal waste picking activities often make a major contribution. Waste picking provides important opportunities to people who have few or no marketable skills and education and no alternative sources of income to survive. However, waste pickers’ living conditions remain deplorable, and their working conditions continue to be dangerous due to hazardous waste. Given the social, economic, and environmental benefits waste pickers bring, and particularly their contribution to circular economy goals in developing nations, the role of waste pickers has mostly been undervalued on the development agenda. This paper examines the literature on waste pickers around the world, their working and living conditions, and explores the issue of formalisation. A total of 45 papers published from 1994 to 2022 were reviewed, covering case studies on waste pickers from 27 different countries. We analyse the content of these papers based on a list of key themes: poverty, health, stigma, environmental factors, informality, and formalisation. We find that the informal status of waste pickers, and the question of them being formalised into a Municipal Solid Waste Management sector is discussed extensively in the literature, and we delve deeper into this theme. Formalisation can potentially bring considerable improvement to the lives of waste pickers, including legal recognition, safe working conditions and fair bargaining mechanisms. In practice however, we find that formalisation policies take significantly different forms from one country to another and often fail to provide these benefits.
13 citations
TL;DR: In the Global South, post-consumer waste glass is an often dumped, and under-utilised resource as discussed by the authors. Even in Malawi, with widespread return schemes, many barriers exist, inhibiting reuse, and necess...
Abstract: Across the Global South, post-consumer waste glass is an often dumped, and under-utilised resource. Even in Malawi, with widespread return schemes, many barriers exist, inhibiting reuse, and necess...
7 citations
TL;DR: In 2019, large swathes of South Africa experienced several days of intense violence and looting, nominally stemming from political causes, but rooted more deeply in spiraling inequality and greed as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In July 2021, large swathes of South Africa experienced several days of intense violence and looting, nominally stemming from political causes, but rooted more deeply in spiraling inequality and gr...
5 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors use Foucault's notion of problematisations to understand how urban poor experience and understand riverine and marine litter in their daily experience and personal hardship.
Abstract: With the world’s oceans in crisis, citizen knowledge and awareness around riverine and marine waste has become an increasingly crucial topic of study. For most investigations, spatial analysis has centered on the coastline, or most specifically the beach, i.e., the space where most respondents (urban, Northern, middle class), encounter marine litter. Yet, by focusing on the beach as the primary space of analysis, most studies have severely limited the scope of citizens they can engage, because in many African cities it is a space of exclusion. Moreover, for individuals further upstream, in spaces distant from the coast, what are their understandings of riverine and marine litter? What is their knowledge of the hydrological systems standing between them and the sea, and how do they see their ability to influence them? Drawing on extensive qualitative fieldwork in low-income, riverine adjacent communities in Durban, South Africa, and Blantyre, Malawi, the purpose of this article is to understand how Africa’s urban poor experience and understand riverine and marine litter. The study utilises Foucault’s notion of problematisations, and more recent adaptations of Foucault’s work toward waste as a lens to conceptualise processes of problem formation: how individual respondents view riverine and marine litter as a problem. Findings suggest that problematisations around waste, in the community and in the hydrological system, are formed through daily experience and personal hardship; in the case of Blantyre, through the perceived impact waste can have on hydroelectricity generation, and in Johanna Road, by its contribution to flooding within the community. However, understandings of the marine environment and respondents’ impact on the hydrological system, remain limited. Recommendations include rooting education and messaging around riverine and marine litter within low-income individuals’ lived realities. However, any interventions targeted towards the poor must be accompanied by broader systemic change: improving access to solid waste management services and creating cleaner and more equitable communities.
2 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the theoretical concept of problematization as it is developed in Foucauldian-inspired poststructural analysis, and show how such a study politicizes taken-for-granted "truths" and how this analytic approach opens up novel ways of approaching the study of public policy, politics and comparative politics.
Abstract: This paper introduces the theoretical concept, problematization, as it is developed in Foucauldian-inspired poststructural analysis. The objective is two-fold: first, to show how a study of problematizations politicizes taken-for-granted “truths”; and second, to illustrate how this analytic approach opens up novel ways of approaching the study of public policy, politics and comparative politics. The study of problematizations, it suggests, directs attention to the heterogenous strategic relations – the politics – that shape lives. It simultaneously alerts researchers to their unavoidable participation in these relations, opening up a much-needed conversation about the role of theory in politics.
473 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the conceptual frameworks used to examine issues concerning waste and the political polarity of waste in new geographies of waste have been reviewed, focusing on both the conceptual framework that is used and the issues that are addressed.
Abstract: In this article, I critically review important concepts in new geographies of waste I focus on both the conceptual frameworks that are used to examine issues concerning waste and the political pos
201 citations
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: In this article, the authors preporucujuve se poglavlja br. 1 (Thinking about research), br. 2 (Planning a research project) te br. 10 (Writing-up and dissemination) primjenljiva su u svakom geografskom socijalnom istraživanju.
Abstract: Mogli bismo se složiti s rijecima autora ove nadasve korisne i prakticne knjige da je nedostajala knjiga koja bi obuhvatila sve komponente potrebne za stvaranje dobroga istraživaca na polju socijalne geografije. Zato smatram da ovo djelo treba predstaviti – kako studentima kao dobar prirucnik za pisanje diplomskoga rada i ostalih samostalnih radova, tako i vec etabliranim geografima – kao svojevrstan repetitorij i eventualan izvor novih informacija i ideja za njihove znanstvene radove iz socijalne geografije. Knjiga je sastavljena od 11 glavnih poglavlja te predgovora i priloga na njezinu kraju. Cijeli proces izradbe znanstvenoga rada predstavljen je u detaljno razrađenim fazama, a one su ujedno i poglavlja ove knjige. Generalno se može prepoznati jednostavnost izraza u objasnjenjima, koja nikako nije potisnula strucnost, informativnost i ilustrativnost. Vec u predgovoru autori objasnjavaju strukturu knjige i isticu da se knjiga ne treba citati linearno (poglavlje po poglavlje), nego da bi je trebalo percipirati poput prirucnika u kojem se svako poglavlje može koristiti zasebno. Ipak, preporucuju se poglavlja br. 1 (Thinking about research), br. 2 (Planning a research project) te br. 10 (Writing-up and dissemination). Navedena tri poglavlja primjenljiva su u svakom geografskom socijalnom istraživanju te bi ih svaki socijalni geograf trebao prouciti. Ostala poglavlja trebala bi se konzultirati, ovisno o vrsti istraživanja. Izvanredno je pregledna struktura ne samo cijele knjige nego i svakoga pojedinoga poglavlja. Naime, svako poglavlje dijeli se na niz potpoglavlja, a na kraju svakoga poglavlja nalazi se njegov sažetak, pitanja za razmisljanje te popis relevantne literature za daljnje proucavanje iznesene problematike. Time se jasno nazire da ovo djelo ima i elemente udžbenika, tj. uocljivo je didakticko oblikovanje, sto studentima olaksava svladavanje građe. U prvom poglavlju (Thinking about research) objasnjava se istraživacki proces i razliciti pristupi u analizi problema. Dan je pregled razlicitih filozofskih pristupa u suvremenoj socijalnoj geografiji te se istodobno istice prvorazredno znacenje uspjesnog povezivanja konkretnog istraživanja s teorijskom podlogom, odnosno jedinstva metodologije i prakse. Drugo poglavlje (Planning a research project) govori o racionalnosti planiranja znanstvenog rada, odnosno projekta, o problemu odabira teme, o strukturiranju plana istraživanja te o odabiru metoda u prikupljanju podataka i u njihovoj analizi. Nakon ova dva fundamentalna poglavlja, primjenljiva u svakom socijalnogeografskom istraživanju, slijede tri poglavlja koja se odnose na kvantitativnu analizu podataka, ne ukljucujuci tehnike prostorne analize. U trecem poglavlju (Data generation for quantitative analysis) obrađuje se problematika uspjesnoga strukturiranja baze kvantitativnih podataka paralelnim koristenjem primarnih (podaci dobiveni neposrednim istraživanjem putem ankete, intervjua itd.) i sekundarnih podataka (podaci iz razlicitih statistickih izvora). Cetvrto poglavlje (Preparing, exploring and describing quantitative data) u prvom redu daje smjernice za primjenu kompjutorskoga programa MINITAB u statistickoj analizi. Peto poglavlje (Analysing and interpreting quantitative data) bavi se pitanjima testiranja hipoteze, a posebnu vrijednost cini prezentacija osnovnih i specificnih statistickih metoda s primjerima koristenja u programu MINITAB. Nakon navedena tri poglavlja vezana za bazu kvantitativnih podataka, slijedi vrlo važno sesto poglavlje (Spatial analysis), u kojem je uz pregled osnovnih pojmova iz klasicne kartografije (podjela geografskih karata, kartografske projekcije, mjerila) istaknuta revolucionalna uloga GIS-a u geografskoj analizi. Osim definiranja osnovnih pojmova vezanih za GIS, isticu se mogucnosti njegove primjene u prostornim analizama. Kljucno znacenje pridaje se mogucnostima overlaya i konstruiranja buffera. Ovdje se nalazi i popis izvora digitalnih prostornih podataka s popisom web stranica. Slijede poglavlja vezana za kvalitativne podatke u socijalnogeografskoj analizi. Sedmo poglavlje (Producing data for qualitative analysis) govori o metodama prikupljanja primarnih i sekundarnih kvalitativnih podataka. U osmom poglavlju (Analysing and interpreting qualitative data) i u devetom (Analysing qualitative data using a computer) raspravlja se o analizi i sintezi kvalitativnih podataka te se istice važnost NUD-IST (Non-numerical Unstructured Data Indexing Searching and Theorising) programa u povezivanju ideja i stvaranju teorija o podacima. Deseto poglavlje (Writing-up and dissemination) predocuje nam tehnike stapanja dobivenih rezultata u znanstveni tekst. Naglasava se potreba koristenja razlicitih tehnika, ovisno o tome priprema li se znanstveni clanak za objavljivanju u znanstvenom casopisu ili se radi o pripremanju izlaganja na znanstvenom skupu. Autori nas podsjecaju i na strukturu znanstvenog clanka (uvod, metodologija, opis samog istraživanja, iznosenje dobivenih rezultata, zakljucak, literatura), s posebnim osvrtom na komponiranje slikovnih i tablicnih priloga u tekstu. Jedanaesto poglavlje (Final words) iznosi tri kljucna zakljucka, odnosno cilja ove knjige, a to su: 1. razumjeti važnost povezivanja teorije i prakse 2. znati prikupiti, analizirati i interpretirati kvalitativne i kvantitativne podatke 3. moci planirati i voditi znanstveno istraživanje u socijalnoj geografiji. Knjiga zavrsava izvanredno korisnim dodacima: tablicama vezanim za metodu uzorkovanja i obradbu statistickih podataka, primjerima intervjua, korisnim adresama za nabavu softwarea (MINITAB, ARC/INFO i ARC/VIEW, IDRISI, MAP-INFO, NUD-IST, SASPAC, SURPOP, GASP) te naravno vrlo bogatim popisom literature. Smatram da bi ovakav pregled metoda i tehnika u socijalnogeografskom istraživanju trebao biti dostupan svakom znanstveniku i studentu zainteresiranom za ovo podrucje te da je rijec o ponajboljem izdanju slicne tematike u recentnoj geografskoj literaturi.
181 citations
TL;DR: A study of information strategies that parents use to make sense of health risk issues, particularly MMR identifies a preference for personal and face-to-face engagement with health professionals, stressing the importance of user-centred health risk communication.
Abstract: Immunisation is the cornerstone of childhood disease prevention. In this context the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccination (MMR) has proved a world-wide success, although in the UK it has been at the centre of public controversy since 1998. Through the media, the public domain has witnessed contestation among expert views about the relative risks associated with the diseases vs. the potential side-effects of the vaccination. Attainment of health protection targets has been compromised. The UK Department of Health sought to redress this through a major communication exercise. This paper reports the findings of a study of information strategies that parents use to make sense of health risk issues, particularly MMR. The findings identify the importance of social networks in reinforcing parental understanding and beliefs. While the media are identified as important sources of information, there is no evidence to suggest that parents passively receive and act upon such risk messages. Official informa...
155 citations