New Books in Science, Technology, and Society Heather Davis, "Plastic Matter" (Duke UP, 2022)
Nov 23, 2025
Heather Davis, Assistant Professor of Culture and Media and author of *Plastic Matter*, explores the profound impact of plastics on modern life. She discusses how plastic shapes identities and reflects tensions of petrocapitalism. Delving into the connection between plastic pollution and colonialism, Davis shares insights on the 'Plastisphere' and its microbial inhabitants. The conversation challenges conventional views on ecology, urging a reexamination of relationships across species. Her work provokes thought about the implications of plastics in a queer and ecological context.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Family Story Behind The Milk Bag
- Heather Davis recounts her maternal grandfather's role at DuPont and his involvement in developing the plastic milk bag.
- Her grandmother tested prototypes and influenced the product, yet her labor was excluded from official narratives.
Plastic Matter As A Worldview
- Plastic matter names the recursive cultural desire for matter to be pliable and controllable.
- This orientation enabled molecular engineering and reshaped assumptions about what matter should do.
Pollution’s Colonial Logic
- Plastic pollution functions like colonialism by relying on dispossession of land and racialized exposure to toxins.
- Synthetic universality lets plastics move as 'universal' objects divorced from place, amplifying extraction harms.
