Life in Plastic: Plastic's Capitalism (Part 2)

Plastics have been a defining feature of contemporary life since at least the 1960s. Yet our proliferating use of plastics has also triggered catastrophic environmental consequences. In this second episode of a two-part series, literary scholars and contributors to the volume LIFE IN PLASTIC: ARTISTIC RESPONSES TO PETROMODERNITY discuss public health, affective politics, postplastic utopias, temporality, globalism, class, geopolitics, literature, and activism as they relate to the problem and politics of plastic. Featuring Caren Irr, Crystal Bartolovich, Christopher Breu, and Sean Grattan.

Caren Irr is a professor of English at Brandeis University and author of Toward the Geopolitical Novel, Pink Pirates, and The Suburb of Dissent.

Crystal Bartolovich is an associate professor of English at Syracuse University and coeditor of Marxism, Modernity, and Postcolonial Studies.

Christopher Breu is professor of English at Illinois State University. He is author of Insistence of the Material and Hard-Boiled Masculinities, and coeditor of the forthcoming Noir Affect.

Sean Grattan is an independent scholar and author of Hope Isn’t Stupid.

Works and people referenced in the episode:

Gain by Richard Powers

Fredric Jameson

N. Katherine Hayles

Jane Bennett 

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Chris Jordan

Sylvia Wynter

Thomas More’s Utopia