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Envisioning waste utopias to create dignified waste work

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  • Riya Raphael

Abstract

This paper explores ‘utopia as method’ to envision solid waste and sewage management systems which are equitable and sustainable. Global solid waste management is largely sustained by millions of waste pickers who collect, sort and manage waste. Sanitation workers play a vital role in maintaining sewage systems. These workers are exposed to dangerous, toxic workspaces, and they often belong to marginalised socio-economic groups. Labour market segregation on the basis of gender, racialisation and caste is particularly visible in the case of waste-related occupations as workers face stigmatisation. In South Asia, Dalits (lowest caste groups) are significantly overrepresented as sanitation workers and waste pickers. Thus, this conceptual paper draws upon studies from India, to explore and imagine possibilities of anti-caste futures within visions of sustainable waste management. The paper highlights the need to incorporate worker-centric approaches and anti-caste politics to build ecologically sustainable and socio-economically equitable waste infrastructures.

Suggested Citation

  • Riya Raphael, 2026. "Envisioning waste utopias to create dignified waste work," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 47(3), pages 656-675, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:47:y:2026:i:3:p:656-675
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X251387433
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