Beyond Straw Men: Plastic Pollution and Networked Cultures of Care

Beyond Straw Men illustrates how affective counterpublics mobilized around plastics reveal broader stories about environmental justice and social change, inspired by on- and offline organizing in the Global South and the Global South of the North. It argues that plastics have become an articulator of crisis and an entry point into the contested environmental politics of carbon-heavy masculinity, carceral policies, planetary fatalism, eco-ableism, greenwashing, marine life endangerment, pollution colonialism, and waste imperialism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 22 August 2023
Publisher: University of California Press

Addressing plastics can be an overwhelming task, as it evokes a range of emotions such as guilt, shame, anger, hurt, fear, dismissiveness, and despair. However, Beyond Straw Men takes a different approach by delving beyond simplistic arguments and highlighting the broader stories behind the plastic crisis. Inspired by organizing efforts in both the Global South and the Global North, Phaedra C. Pezzullo examines public controversies and policies through the lens of hashtag activism, campaign materials, and podcast interviews with renowned advocates from Bangladesh, Kenya, the United States, and Vietnam.

Pezzullo argues that plastics have emerged as a powerful articulator of crisis, serving as a gateway into the complex environmental politics surrounding carbon-heavy masculinity, carceral policies, planetary fatalism, eco-ableism, greenwashing, marine life endangerment, pollution colonialism, and waste imperialism. By recognizing the emotional attachments people have to plastics, Beyond Straw Men offers insightful illustrations of how everyday individuals resist unsustainable patterns within the plastics-industrial complex.

Through its exploration of imperfect but impactful networked cultures of care, the book demonstrates how individuals can work together to create change. It highlights the importance of community, collaboration, and shared responsibility in addressing the plastic crisis. By recognizing the emotional attachments people have to plastics, Beyond Straw Men offers insightful illustrations of how everyday individuals resist unsustainable patterns within the plastics-industrial complex.

Through its exploration of imperfect but impactful networked cultures of care, the book demonstrates how individuals can work together to create change. It highlights the importance of community, collaboration, and shared responsibility in addressing the plastic crisis.

Weight: 448g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520393646