Plastics, social metabolism, and the society-nature problematic

Abstract

In this article, we contribute to an ongoing discussion in environmental social science around the society-nature problematic, which considers the distinction, or lack thereof, between society and nature. Drawing on the social metabolism approach in environmental sociology, we develop a concise historical discussion of the production and application of plastics. Analysis of plastics development offers valuable insights into how social and ecological systems, while ultimately united in the larger Earth system, must often be analytically differentiated. The case of plastics in the world provides essential nuance and validation for recognizing the distinct conditions created by historically specific social relations of production and how these can transgress against the universal metabolism of nature. Doing so allows for a critical understanding of the social drivers of environmental change, thus identifying potential mechanisms for alternative forms of the systems of production and consumption. We argue that the development of synthetic plastics, like all social phenomena, is an emergent property of the larger Earth system, one that is both rooted in and dependent upon the universal metabolism of nature while materially exhibiting characteristics not found anywhere else in the natural world.