Contested Waste: Environmental Conflicts & Waste Picker Resistance in the Global South

Описание: How do we achieve a truly just waste management system?

In this webinar, hosted by WIEGO and the University of Barcelona, we launch the groundbreaking new book: Contested Waste: Environmental Conflicts and Waste Picker Resistance in the Global South.

Waste pickers are the backbone of global recycling systems, making essential—yet often uncompensated—contributions to environmental sustainability. However, they are increasingly facing the “recycling paradox”: as waste management becomes a lucrative industry, the very people who built these systems are being excluded, displaced, or criminalized through policies that set out to privatize waste management.

📘 About the Book
Edited by Federico Demaria, Daniele Vico, and Lucía Fernández Gabard, Contested Waste analyzes over 70 socio-environmental conflicts documented in the Global Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas).

The authors trace how policies favouring privatization, incineration, and landfill expansion marginalize workers across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. More importantly, the book highlights the power of collective resistance and the organizing strategies waste pickers use to fight for equitable governance.

💡 Why This Matters
As cities worldwide push for a Circular Economy and a Just Transition, we must ask: Who is the transition "just" for? This discussion is essential for anyone working at the intersection of labour rights, urban planning, and climate justice.

Speakers:
Casper Edmonds, Head of Unit, Mining, Manufacturing & Energy, International Labour Organization
Nohra Padilla, Asociación Nacional de Recicladores de Colombia
Manisha Anantharaman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Center for the Sociology of Organisations (CNRS/Sciences Po)
Federico Demaria, Serra Hunter Associate Professor in Ecological Economics and Political Ecology at the University of Barcelona
Daniele Vico, Researcher in Political Ecology and Ecological Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona
Lucía Fernández Gabard, Director of the Organisation and Representation Programme at WIEGO and Universidad de la República Uruguay

Moderated by Federico Parra

🔗 Resources & Links
Download/Purchase the Book: https://www.routledge.com/Contested-W...
Explore the EJAtlas: https://ejatlas.org/
Learn more about WIEGO’s work: www.wiego.org

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