THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Newman reframes the history of waste
August 17, 2023
(last updated on November 27, 2023)
Sarah Newman reframes the history of waste in an August interview about her recent book, Unmaking Waste: New Histories of Old Things.
Using examples and archeological evidence from before and during colonization in Mesoamerica, Newman shows that people have thought about — and used — “trash” in many different ways. She says that “waste is neither universal nor self-evident” and argues that waste — what we deem “unwanted” — is a relatively recent idea.
LINK TO ARTICLE: https://news.uchicago.edu/story/archaeologist-talks-trash
LINK TO BOOK: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/U/bo197202045.html#anchor-excerpt