Arts & Culture
The Anthropology of Waste and the Social Classification of Discarded Materials
Quick fact
Anthropologist Mary Douglas noted that 'dirt is matter out of place'—what counts as waste depends on social classification, not on the object itself. Trash pickers in some cities, like the catadores in Brazil, are often stigmatized, while in other settings, waste materials become valuable resources.
Why this is interesting
You throw something away—but where does it go, and who decides that it's trash? In different cultures, the same object can be a treasure or garbage.