The Excess of Modernity: Garbage Politics in Oaxaca,Mexico

摘要

In the last several decades, garbage strikes have taken place around the world. In this article, I examinethe case of garbage strikes in Oaxaca, Mexico, a rapidly growing city. Here, garbage, which is normallyconsidered a hazard, is revealed also to be an effective political tool for people demanding "rights to thecity." Processes of modernization that have produced an expectation of cleanliness in modern cities have,at the same time, relied on production and consumption patterns that create more and more garbage. It isthis inherent contradiction that provides a space for marginalized people to use garbage as a political tool.