Paper short abstract:

This study delves into 'unseen aspects of circulating materials' - blended informal /formal practices in the Global South. Shifting the focus from discourses to material-social interactions, it explores the role of communities (material workers, organizers, brokers) with electronics and plastics.

Paper long abstract:

Shifting the focus from discourses to material-social interactions, this study will explore the engagement of communities (material workers, organizers, brokers) with electronics and plastics. This interaction, driven by necessity, continually evolves as waste and materials garner increased attention from international and local private entities, with their monetary worth rising within circular value chains. In Kenya's electronics and plastics sectors, material pickers and sorters play a pivotal role in preserving the value of materials. This research will give equal consideration to the concept of 'socio-materiality,' which recognizes the inherent entanglement and inseparability of both social and material components.

This research in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Lamu demonstrates that communities engaged in recycling, refurbishing, and repairing have different organizational, social, and political structures; some are politically driven with tighter social cohesion to challenge the current material landfill and ocean waste, mobilize local communities to pressure local governance and connect to the neighboring communities through the ocean, while others have merely profit making and socio-economic drives to recycle the material to support their livelihoods. How the diverse communities engage with materials, politics, and socially (formally and informally) with each other and the implications of this engagement for the larger picture of the Circular Economy in Kenya is mainly understudied. The research specifically concentrates on communities and workers, in order to analyze various aspects of their interactions, power dynamics, division of labor, incentives, and community cohesion in their experiences related to materiality activities such as recycling, refurbishing, and remanufacturing.