Gathering Electronic Waste in Tanzania: Labor, Value, and Toxicity

(Hardback)

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Discussions of waste and electronic discard management often view micro-scale ingenious activities around unregulated recycling centers in the Global South only as a source of pollution. Gathering Electronic Waste in Tanzania: Labor, Value, and Toxicity goes further and explores the complexities of electronic waste management. Samwel Moses Ntapanta examines the materialities of electronics and e-discards, toxicity, and the sociocultural and economic fabrics of e-waste management in Tanzania. He traces the lifecycle of electronic goods beyond their discard in the Global South: from the importation of used goods to cycles of repair, and from the collection of scrap to repurposing materials for manufacturing. Through the concept of gathering, Ntapanta provides insight into the effects of unregulated mechanisms to address the e-waste problem. He argues that understanding this connection between informal workers and the economy at large paves a path for better waste regime models, reduced violence, and environmental justice for workers and marginalized communities.

Reviews

I highly endorse this book for its insightful exploration into Tanzanian culture through the lens of electronics repair. Samwel Moses Ntapanta, an ethnographer, skillfully unveils the deep cultural significance of repair practices in Tanzania, illustrating how they reflect resilience and optimism for the future. This narrative not only enriches our understanding of local markets, but also sheds light on sustainable practices amid global techno-capitalism, making it essential reading for anyone interested in socio-cultural dynamics and environmental stewardship. -- Piotr Barczak, Circular Economy Program Manager, ACEN Foundation
Grounded in long cooperation, mutual curiosity, and friendship, Ntapanta follows Tanzanians living and working with the detritus of global techno-consumerismgathering discarded electrical appliances, extracting metals, and forging utensils from apparent waste in central Dar es Salaam. Avoiding the external observers facile dystopianism, he provides the reader glimpses of urban everyday life in the downstream regions of post-imperial techno-capitalism. Drawing on readings from Marx and thinkers of the Dar es Salaam school to contemporary anthropological theory, Ntapanta reconsiders seemingly marginal economic practiceseking out lives from residues at the end of the value chainas central to century-long processes of value (re-)generation, extraction, and accumulation. -- Paul Wenzel Geissler, University of Oslo

Author Bio

Samwel Moses Ntapanta is post-doctorate research fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Aarhus University.