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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
“Still Good Life”: On The Value Of Reuse And Distributive Labor In “Depleted” Rural Maine, Cindy Isenhour, Brieanne Berry
“Still Good Life”: On The Value Of Reuse And Distributive Labor In “Depleted” Rural Maine, Cindy Isenhour, Brieanne Berry
Anthropology Student Scholarship
This article explores the production of wealth through distributive labor in Maine's secondhand economy. While reuse is often associated with economic disadvantage, our research complicates that perspective. The labor required to reclaim, repair, redistribute, and reuse secondhand goods provides much more than a means of living in places left behind by international capitalism, but the value generated by this work is persistently discounted by dominant economic logics. On the basis of semistructured interviews, participant observation, and statewide surveys with reuse market participants in Maine, we find that the relational value of reuse, produced through caring, flexible, distributive labor, is especially …
Linking Rural And Urban Circular Economies Through Reuse And Repair, Brieanne Berry, Cindy Isenhour
Linking Rural And Urban Circular Economies Through Reuse And Repair, Brieanne Berry, Cindy Isenhour
Anthropology Student Scholarship
Increasing resource scarcity and what has been called “the end of cheap nature” are prompting policymakers and scholars to foster more circular economies to reduce waste and lengthen the lifespan of material goods. Our essay critically examines the political and economic relationships between urban and rural geographies in the context of secondhand economies. Practices of bartering, swapping, selling, and repairing used goods have long been important to rural people and places, but the increasing commodification of discards risks upending rural livelihoods and ways of being as goods move toward urban centers. We explore the relationship between rural and urban reuse …
Rummaging Through The Attic Of New England, Brieanne Berry, Jennifer Bonnet, Cindy Isenhour
Rummaging Through The Attic Of New England, Brieanne Berry, Jennifer Bonnet, Cindy Isenhour
Anthropology Student Scholarship
The concept of the circular economy has taken off, gaining momentum along with concerns about resource depletion, waste, and the impending ‘end of cheap nature’ (Moore 2014). Environmentalists and industrialists alike have promoted the benefits of reuse as a means toward improved efficiency and reduced resource pressure. Some have called for a new ‘culture of reuse’ (Botsman and Rogers 2010; Stokes et al. 2014). It is in this context that we explore repair, resale, and reuse as practices with deep historical precedent and contemporary continuity. Are there lessons to be learned from places that are already home to circular economies …
Clues To Paleoindian Survival: Underwater Caches My Have Supplied Meat In Winter, Kimberly Sawtelle
Clues To Paleoindian Survival: Underwater Caches My Have Supplied Meat In Winter, Kimberly Sawtelle
Anthropology Student Scholarship
Dr. Daniel C. Fisher of University of Michigan's Museum of Paleontology and Department of Geological Sciences has found intriguing new information at the Heisler and other sites concerning Paleoindian food-caching behavior. New lines of evidence suggest Paleoindian peoples stored meat from proboscideans by anchoring under water in ponds.
Mastodont Hair Gives Clues To Habitat, Kimberly Sawtelle
Mastodont Hair Gives Clues To Habitat, Kimberly Sawtelle
Anthropology Student Scholarship
Two samples of preserved mastodont hair and soft tissue found at the Milwaukee Mastodont site could shed new light on the paleoecology of Mammut americanum and how this animal related to its natural habitat.