What is it about?

This article shows how the materaility of plastics (their density, molecular make-up, size, etc) is challenging ideas of what pollution is and how it works, and argues that those aiming to intervene in pollution need to take materiality seriously.

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Why is it important?

This article argues that action and advocacy around pollution, whether by researchers, designers, activists, managers or policy makers, needs to take materiality seriously, otherwise actions may not actually impact the material pollutants and even do more harm than good.

Perspectives

Max Liboiron is a plastic pollution researcher and activist that seeks to create grassroots tools for monitoring marine plastics. Liboiron works to ensure that social and cultural issues of pollution are merged with scientific work so that problems are defined as thoroughly as possible, and action aligns with both physical and social problems.

Dr Max Liboiron
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Redefining pollution and action: The matter of plastics, Journal of Material Culture, December 2015, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1359183515622966.
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