Plastic MatterPlastic Legacies: Pollution, Persistence, and Politics

Any attempt to approach plastics is inevitably challenged by the materiality of the subject—the very presence of plastics. These books, although they approach plastics differently, both begin by acknowledging the presence, or perhaps rather “perseverance” of plastics—found sometimes years later and far from their place of origin. Plastics are everywhere and they do not go away. We might dispose of them, but they eventually wash back up. The implications of plastics’ perseverance are taken up differently in each book. Even though the authors might use similar case studies, they part ways as they frame their arguments. In the edited collection entitled Plastic Legacies, Trisia Farrelly, Sy Taffel, and Ian Shaw present a neat and organized documentation of the circulation of plastics and initiatives that have led to large-scale action or legislation. In Plastic Matter, Heather Davis presents an intriguing journey into the meanings and materialities of plastics, as embedded in our daily life practices and the way we think.