As the world’s population and consumption of goods continues to grow at an exponential rate, waste management and storage has rapidly become one of the most pressing, everyday issues of our time, local and global. Dr. Song Tian will discuss the case of Lake Lugu in southwestern China, with a view to theorizing garbage as an internal, structural, philosophical challenge of industrialized civilization that eludes any quick fix. In that vein, his lecture will also look at the food chain of modernization and globalization that turns natural resources into garbage, trashing the earth. How might we go about solving this problem? After the presentation, Dr. Kyoo Lee (John Jay College of Criminal Justice & CUNY Graduate Center/CUNY) will join in for a conversation with Dr. Tian and the audience.
