Waste of a Nation

Garbage and Growth in India

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, City Planning & Urban Development, History, Asian, India, Social Science
Cover of the book Waste of a Nation by Assa Doron, Harvard University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Assa Doron ISBN: 9780674986008
Publisher: Harvard University Press Publication: March 26, 2018
Imprint: Harvard University Press Language: English
Author: Assa Doron
ISBN: 9780674986008
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication: March 26, 2018
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Language: English

In India, you can still find the kabaadiwala, the rag-and-bone man. He wanders from house to house buying old newspapers, broken utensils, plastic bottles—anything for which he can get a little cash. This custom persists and recreates itself alongside the new economies and ecologies of consumer capitalism. Waste of a Nation offers an anthropological and historical account of India’s complex relationship with garbage. Countries around the world struggle to achieve sustainable futures. Assa Doron and Robin Jeffrey argue that in India the removal of waste and efforts to reuse it also lay waste to the lives of human beings. At the bottom of the pyramid, people who work with waste are injured and stigmatized as they deal with sewage, toxic chemicals, and rotting garbage. Terrifying events, such as atmospheric pollution and childhood stunting, that touch even the wealthy and powerful may lead to substantial changes in practices and attitudes toward sanitation. And innovative technology along with more effective local government may bring about limited improvements. But if a clean new India is to emerge as a model for other parts of the world, a “binding morality” that reaches beyond the current environmental crisis will be required. Empathy for marginalized underclasses—Dalits, poor Muslims, landless migrants—who live, almost invisibly, amid waste produced predominantly for the comfort of the better-off will be the critical element in India’s relationship with waste. Solutions will arise at the intersection of the traditional and the cutting edge, policy and practice, science and spirituality.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In India, you can still find the kabaadiwala, the rag-and-bone man. He wanders from house to house buying old newspapers, broken utensils, plastic bottles—anything for which he can get a little cash. This custom persists and recreates itself alongside the new economies and ecologies of consumer capitalism. Waste of a Nation offers an anthropological and historical account of India’s complex relationship with garbage. Countries around the world struggle to achieve sustainable futures. Assa Doron and Robin Jeffrey argue that in India the removal of waste and efforts to reuse it also lay waste to the lives of human beings. At the bottom of the pyramid, people who work with waste are injured and stigmatized as they deal with sewage, toxic chemicals, and rotting garbage. Terrifying events, such as atmospheric pollution and childhood stunting, that touch even the wealthy and powerful may lead to substantial changes in practices and attitudes toward sanitation. And innovative technology along with more effective local government may bring about limited improvements. But if a clean new India is to emerge as a model for other parts of the world, a “binding morality” that reaches beyond the current environmental crisis will be required. Empathy for marginalized underclasses—Dalits, poor Muslims, landless migrants—who live, almost invisibly, amid waste produced predominantly for the comfort of the better-off will be the critical element in India’s relationship with waste. Solutions will arise at the intersection of the traditional and the cutting edge, policy and practice, science and spirituality.

More books from Harvard University Press

Cover of the book Empire of the Air by Assa Doron
Cover of the book The Impossible Indian by Assa Doron
Cover of the book As If by Assa Doron
Cover of the book Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Assa Doron
Cover of the book America's Pastor by Assa Doron
Cover of the book THE CRISIS OF CAPITALIST DEMOCRACY by Assa Doron
Cover of the book Vatican I by Assa Doron
Cover of the book Heidegger on Being Uncanny by Assa Doron
Cover of the book The Byzantine Republic by Assa Doron
Cover of the book Mostly Straight by Assa Doron
Cover of the book The Scriptural Universe of Ancient Christianity by Assa Doron
Cover of the book Persophilia by Assa Doron
Cover of the book Imperialism and the Origins of Mexican Culture by Assa Doron
Cover of the book The Rise of Nuclear Fear by Assa Doron
Cover of the book 1381 by Assa Doron
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy