Not at Our Disposal: Reclaimers’ Critique of Disposability Capitalism

Reclaimers who salvage recyclable and reusable materials are frequently upheld as emblematic of disposable ‘surplus populations’ considered superfluous to the contemporary capitalist economy and social and political life. Through analysis of how black reclaimers in South Africa revalue commodities that others have disposed as waste, this chapter exposes the patriarchal, white supremacist colonial assumption underpinning capital accumulation (which I argue has intensified in the current period of ‘disposability capitalism’) that subjugated people, nature, and commodities can be treated as disposable, understood not as excluded and unnecessary, but as simultaneously disposable and at capitalists’ disposal (hence exploitable). The chapter argues that analysis of reclaimers’ complex labour and organizing facilitates a fundamental critique of the ideology and practice of disposability and ‘disposability capitalism’ and provides crucial insights into ways to struggle beyond them, as well as challenges in doing so.