Treating the symptom? A marxist reflection on ‘zero waste’ and sardinia 2019 symposium

Abstract

Written as a reflection on Sardinia 2019, the purpose of this letter is to draw attention to a perceived failure within waste management studies to adequately engage with the socio-economic and socio-political conditions that drive the prodution of waste. By way of a solution, it proposes a return to Marxist dialectics and modes of anlaysis in order to reframe contemporary debates on waste management practices to include more critical discussion and engagement with the root causes of waste, specifically capitalist production and class-addressing the illness rather than merely treating the symptoms.