Rubbish Theory

'Original, insightful, and entertaining' -- Ian Stewart, author of Seventeen Equations that Changed the World (Profile Books, 2012) 'Witty and wide-ranging scholarly scholarly study ... a fascinating contribution to cultural theory' -- The Guardian 'A remarkably original and creative book, far ahead of its time. Thompson's analysis is not only a major contribution to the anthropological theorising of waste and value, but it is also highly relevant for the contemporary dilemmas of growth and environmental destruction' -- Thomas Hylland Eriksen, author of Overheating (Pluto, 2016) 'Highly recommended' -- CHOICE

Michael Thompson is a Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, University of Oxford. He is the author of Rubbish Theory (Pluto, 2017). Joshua O. Reno is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Binghamton University and author of Waste Away (University of California Press, 2016). He is also a contributor to Rubbish Theory (Pluto, 2017). Joshua O. Reno is a Professor at Binghamton University, USA. He is the author of 'Waste Away' 2016, 'Military Waste' 2020 and, with Britt Halvorson, 'Imagining the Heartland' 2022. He co-edited, with Catherine Alexander, the collection 'Economies of Recycling', 2012, Zed Books.

Foreword by Joshua O. Reno Preface Introduction to the New Edition 1. The Filth in the Way 2. Stevengraphs - Yesterday's Kitsch 3. Rat-infested Slum or Glorious Heritage? 4. From Things to Ideas 5. A Dynamic Theory of Rubbish 6. Art and the Ends of Economic Activity 7. Monster Conservation 8. The Geometry of Credibility 9. The Geometry of Confidence 10. The Needle's Eye Afterword (co-authored by M. Bruce Beck) Notes Index