Discard Studies

An argument that social, political, and economic systems maintain power by discarding certain people, places, and things. Discard studies is an emerging field that looks at waste and wasting broadly construed. Rather than focusing on waste and trash as the primary objects of study, discard studies looks at wider systems of waste and wasting to explore how some materials, practices, regions, and people are valued or devalued, becoming dominant or disposable. In this book, Max Liboiron and Josh Lepawsky argue that social, political, and economic systems maintain power by discarding certain people, places, and things. They show how the theories and methods of discard studies can be applied in a variety of cases, many of which do not involve waste, trash, or pollution. Liboiron and Lepawsky consider the partiality of knowledge and offer a theory of scale, exploring the myth that most waste is municipal solid waste produced by consumers; discuss peripheries, centers, and power, using content moderation as an example of how dominant systems find ways to discard; and use theories of difference to show that universalism, stereotypes, and inclusion all have politics of discard and even purification—as exemplified in “inclusive” efforts to broaden the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, they develop a theory of change by considering “wasting well,” outlining techniques, methods, and propositions for a justice-oriented discard studies that keeps power in view

New York\u27s Two Sandys

According to New Yorkers, two different Hurricane Sandys hit their city in 2012. The first was a one-time indiscriminate exceptional catastrophe. The second was an extraordinary acceleration of inequalities affecting the poorest New Yorkers. Daniel A. Cohen and Max Liboiron promote the second perspective as a systemic approach susceptible of helping New York City face the challenges of environmental distress both locally and globally

La promotion de la santé mentale par le biais du développement des compétences psychosociales: le cas des adolescents franco-ontariens de l’École secondaire catholique Champlain

La question de la santé mentale des adolescents de 14 à 18 ans fréquentant l’école secondaire retient l’attention de plusieurs, dont les conseils scolaires, les directions d’écoles, les professionnels, les parents et le grand public. Mondialement, il a été reconnu par l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS, 2014) que la première cause de maladie est la dépression tandis que le suicide représente la troisième causant le décès pour les 10 à 19 ans. Quoique préoccupantes, ces statistiques ne doivent pas pour autant faire ombrage aux formidables potentiels de ces jeunes en considérant les nombreux changements biopsychologiques auxquels ils sont confrontés. La promotion et la prévention en santé mentale restent un levier des plus importants pour favoriser le mieux-être des jeunes. À cet effet, un programme d’intervention de petit groupe sur les compétences psychosociales auprès des élèves de 10e année fut conçu conformément au programme ministériel Stratégie ontarienne globale de santé mentale et de lutte contre les dépendances avec son 3e objectif : repérer très tôt les problèmes en santé mentale et de dépendance afin d’intervenir précocement. Ce programme sur les compétences psychosociales a été créé pour une clientèle adolescente ayant des problèmes d’estime de soi et de socialisation, mais il peut être utilisé pour d’autres problématiques. En résumé, les interventions sur les CPS ont démontré leur efficacité dans l’intervention de petit groupe pour prévenir des troubles de comportements et de santé mentale, d’adaptation, d’empowerment, d’isolement, d’estime de soi, de relations interpersonnelles, de consommation, etc.aitrise en service socia

CLEAR Lab Book: A living manual of our values, guidelines, and protocols (Version 3)

CLEAR is based in the Department of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s campus. We respectfully acknowledge the territory in which we gather as the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk, and the island of Newfoundland as the ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk. We would also like to recognize the Inuit of Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut and the Innu of Nitassinan, and their ancestors, as the original people of Labrador. We strive for respectful relationships with all the peoples of this province as we search for collective healing and true reconciliation and honour this beautiful land together

Review of participation of Indigenous peoples in plastics pollution governance

While calls for Indigenous participation in plastics pollution governance are increasingly common, exactly what participation means remains unclear. This review investigates how English-language peer-reviewed and gray literature describe Indigenous participation and its barriers and analyzes the dominant terms, models, enactments, and theories of Indigenous participation in plastics pollution work. We find that different actors – Indigenous people and organizations, non-Indigenous authors, mixed collaborations, and settler governments and NGOs – are talking about participation in acutely different ways. Non-Indigenous actors tend to focus on the inclusion of Indigenous people, either as data, knowledge, or a presence in existing frameworks. Mixed Indigenous and non-Indigenous author groups focus on partnership and collaboration, though with significant diversity in terms of what modes of decision-making, rights, and leadership these collaborations entail. Indigenous authors and organization advocate for participation premised on Indigenous rights, sovereignty, creation, and leadership. We end by characterizing Indigenous Environmental Justice (IEJ) in the literature. IEJ provides a notably unique way of understanding and intervening in plastics pollution. The text is designed so researchers and organizers can be more specific, deliberate, and just in the way Indigenous peoples participate in plastic pollution research, initiatives, and governance

Photonic integrated reconfigurable linear processors as neural network accelerators

Reconfigurable linear optical processors can be used to perform linear transformations and are instrumental in effectively computing matrix–vector multiplications required in each neural network layer. In this paper, we characterize and compare two thermally tuned photonic integrated processors realized in silicon-on-insulator and silicon nitride platforms suited for extracting feature maps in convolutional neural networks. The reduction in bit resolution when crossing the processor is mainly due to optical losses, in the range 2.3–3.3 for the silicon-on-insulator chip and in the range 1.3–2.4 for the silicon nitride chip. However, the lower extinction ratio of Mach–Zehnder elements in the latter platform limits their expressivity (i.e., the capacity to implement any transformation) to 75%, compared to 97% of the former. Finally, the silicon-on-insulator processor outperforms the silicon nitride one in terms of footprint and energy efficiency

Photonic Integrated Reconfigurable Linear Processors as Neural Network Accelerators

Reconfigurable linear optical processors can be used to perform linear transformations and are instrumental in effectively computing matrix-vector multiplications required in each neural network layer. In this paper, we characterize and compare two thermally tuned photonic integrated processors realized in silicon-on-insulator and silicon nitride platforms suited for extracting feature maps in convolutional neural networks. The reduction in bit resolution when crossing the processor is mainly due to optical losses, in the range 2.3-3.3 for the silicon-on-insulator chip and in the range 1.3-2.4 for the silicon nitride chip. However, the lower extinction ratio of Mach-Zehnder elements in the latter platform limits their expressivity (i.e., the capacity to implement any transformation) to 75%, compared to 97% of the former. Finally, the silicon-on-insulator processor outperforms the silicon nitride one in terms of footprint and energy efficiency

The Challenges of Temporality to Depollution & Remediation

Complete depollution and effective remediation are impossible for many wastes. Long-enduring and even permanent wastes such as nuclear waste, ocean plastics, orbital debris, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), among others, present unique problems for remediation because of their temporality. While they may be spatially moved and “cleaned up,” the hazardous or toxic substance themselves will continue to endure in time, which means remediation becomes an exercise in shifting materials in space rather than their elimination. This strategy means that spills, leaks, and future care are pressing problems that can reintroduce the substance to new environments and bodies. Thus, the main methods to address toxicity in the environment—depollution and remediation—are stopgaps at best. While different disciplines have been aware of these problems for years, an interdisciplinary synthesis is lacking. We offer one here by considering a range of research, case studies, and theories around the temporality of waste drawing from archaeology, biology, environmental science, geography, geology, history, science and technology studies (STS), and sociology. We first outline key concepts that describe waste’s long-term temporality: deep-time, the Anthropocene, and slow violence. Then, we consider case studies of nuclear, plastic, and orbital wastes to illustrate these concepts. We conclude with an overview of waste management strategies designed to extend for centuries, including concepts of future generations and kinship. Our goal is to provide an interdisciplinary vocabulary and framework so researchers and waste managers can solve problems that track across challenges and types of waste