Paper short abstract:

This paper interrogates the paradoxical imaginary of plastic as both a material of waste and toxicity and of progress and innovation, arguing that the cultural value attached to this material must be acknowledged and become part of analysis and understanding of what plastic is and does.

Paper long abstract:

Growing awareness of the harmful potential of plastic in environments and bodies worldwide suggests that plastic is increasingly seen as a material of waste. The 'Plasticene,' one of many spin-offs from contemporary Anthropocene debates, draws attention to plastic as a key material through which humans affect their environment. However, equating plastic with waste gives a one-sided view of the cultural significance that plastics can assume. Namely, plastic is also a material that is commonly associated with progress. This paper interrogates this paradoxical imaginary of plastic as both a material of toxicity and waste and of progress and innovation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in southeast Spain, where agriculture in plastic greenhouses (also plasticulture) signifies a complete landscape transformation from 'desert' to 'orchard' and from poverty to prosperity, I show how plastic mediates human-environment relations. In a landscape covered in plastic, translucent sheets separate inside from outside environments by regulating the movement of light, air, species and materials in and out of the greenhouse. Plastic plays a crucial role in modernisation narratives and can be identified as an important source of pride among farmers, while the image of plastic as a material of suffocation and toxicity also reflects on their farming practices. I argue that, in order to imagine a future in which the detrimental effects of plastic may be contained or even reduced, the cultural value attached to this material must be acknowledged and become part of analysis and understanding of what plastic is and does.