{"product_id":"the-idea-of-waste-on-the-limits-of-human-life-9781836390343","title":"The Idea of Waste: On the Limits of Human Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eA compelling rumination on detritus as an essential, meaningful, yet often problematic facet of human existence.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This book starts with the premise that waste is inevitable in human society--and ends with a meditation on its inevitability. \u003ci\u003eThe Idea of Waste\u003c\/i\u003e explores how we have grappled with both the material reality and the specter of this shapeshifting phenomenon throughout history--utilizing it, dreaming of overcoming it, yet never escaping it. John Scanlan explores what waste is and why it seems to be intrinsic to human life, at every turn, in every age and epoch. Finally, he demonstrates how waste never disappears, but rather only proliferates anew. Scanlan's compelling narrative shows waste to be both an enduring material consequence of human activity and an idea or state of being.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Scanlan\u003c\/b\u003e is a cultural historian at the University of Central Lancashire. His previous books include \u003ci\u003eOn Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMemory: Encounters with the Strange and the Familiar\u003c\/i\u003e, both published by Reaktion Books.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Reaktion Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51298482487570,"sku":"9781836390343","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_72fd8a2e-d1fa-4e1c-b175-53627b4b2e85.jpg?v=1747823040","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-idea-of-waste-on-the-limits-of-human-life-9781836390343","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}