Circular Economies in an Uneven World: Waste, Value, and Labour in the Global Politics of Recycling
Date and Time
Location
This webinar will be hosted on Zoom. Please register to receive event link. A zoom link will be sent only to those who register. The link will be sent 48 hours before the event.
Details
Circular Economies in an Uneven World: Waste, Value, and Labour in the Global Politics of Recycling
This webinar will explore the political, economic, and social dimensions of the rapidly expanding circular economy framework. While circular economy initiatives promote recycling, repair, and resource recovery as solutions to the global waste crisis, they also reshape labour relations and systems of value extraction. This session will examine how circular economy policies interact with existing inequalities, particularly in the context of waste governance and informal labour systems. The event is for 60 minutes on Wednesday 29 April 2026, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM ET.
Speaker
Dr. Harsha Anantharaman
Postdoctoral Fellow, York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), York University
Dr. Harsha Anantharaman received a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Minnesota in 2025. His research examines how the political economy of labour, the cultural politics of caste-patriarchy, and the material politics of waste converge in the fraught transformation of Solid Waste Management infrastructures in India. Before pursuing his doctoral studies, he worked with several action-research organizations in Chennai, India, contributing to research and policy initiatives related to urban governance, labour, and environmental justice
In this talk, Dr. Anantharaman will examine the global rise of the circular economy and its implications for labour and waste governance. Drawing on scholarship from geography, sociology, and anthropology, as well as ethnographic field research in India, the presentation will highlight how recycling systems often rely on the labour of socially marginalized communities, including migrants, racialized communities, women, and caste-oppressed groups. These workers play a crucial role in sustaining global recycling systems, yet their contributions frequently remain undervalued and inadequately protected.
The talk will also discuss emerging policy initiatives aimed at integrating informal waste workers into formal waste management systems. While such efforts are often framed as inclusive reforms, they may simultaneously reshape ownership and control over waste resources. Through examples from India’s urban waste economies, Dr. Anantharaman will illustrate how policies that aim to formalize waste management can transform waste from an informal shared resource into a privatized economic asset controlled by corporations or state institutions.
By situating labour at the centre of debates on recycling and circularity, this presentation will offer a critical perspective on the circular economy as not only an environmental strategy but also a complex and uneven political economy of waste, value, and labour.
Organized by
Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)