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Short abstract

This presentation unpacks the aestheticization of circular economy futures as a bridge between the ‘alternative’ and politically mainstream. It traces cultural ideas about waste, beauty, and cleanliness in CE futures – and what aestheticization means for the transformative future they claim to be.

Long abstract

In response to resource scarcity, waste piling up in big cities, and geopolitical resource-dependency, the circular economy (CE) is increasingly put forward not just as an alternative, but a necessity. Policymakers, scientists, and industry-players alike insist on the CE as a necessary national or regional future. However, while imagined as a sustainable alternative to today’s extractivism, in practice CE futures are often embedded in existing discourses and imaginaries (e.g. Friant, 2022; Hendriks, 2024). Positioned as a bridge-concept between the ‘alternative’ and the political mainstream, CE futures highlight questions about how alternative imaginaries are made performative – and what consequences this has. More specifically, this presentation argues that CE futures’ performativity to a significant extent relies on aestheticization, and it investigates how this takes place and what it makes either self-evident or invisible (Rancière, 2000). To do so, this paper draws on a critical discourse analysis in which a Dutch CE visioning workshop series, CE futures presented in policy and industry documents, and interviews are analyzed. It empirically showcases how circular futures harness cultural repertoires about beauty, waste, cleanliness, waste, and controllability (cf. Anantharaman, 2024; Douglas, 1966). As such, we unpack what aestheticization means for how CE futures are staged as transformative, yet crucially recognizable and aesthetically attractive futures – and the shaping role aestheticization plays within this tension.