In this Future Materials Encounter, we invite the public to learn more about how waste and waste-related material practices help shape forms of sociality, politics, and self-understanding for people living under conditions of occupation, in Palestine, and beyond.
The environmental impact of the war in Gaza might seem of little importance in comparison to the humanitarian atrocities of the unfolding genocide. Yet, images showing the debris resulting from the destruction or damage of more than 100,000 buildings in Gaza remind us that the consequences of the war in terms of illnesses and premature mortality will extend for years after the conflict has ended. The event aims to tackle such questions as: In which way does waste shape forms of sociality, politics, and self-understanding for people living in conditions of war and occupation? How can material practices help to trace and make legible the political, environmental, and social affordance of waste in these contexts?