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Green Citizenship at the Recycling Junction: Consumers and Infrastructures for the Recycling of Packaging in Twentieth-Century Norway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2013

FINN ARNE JØRGENSEN
FINN ARNE JØRGENSEN*
Affiliation:
Department of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden; finn.jorgensen@idehist.umu.se
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Abstract

This article investigates the making of the Norwegian recycling consumer-citizen by discussing recycling as both a cultural activity – an expression of environmentalist sentiment, an everyday habit and a social expectation – and a technological infrastructure consisting of disposal stations, legal frameworks, transportation systems and the recycling technologies themselves. Using a concept of ‘recycling junctions’ as a means of understanding historical recycling processes, the article focuses on beverage packaging to argue that effective recycling in the modern green state depends on a combination of technologically mediated convenience and green consumer-citizenship, involving a wide range of actors.

Citoyenneté verte et ‘jonction de recyclage’: consommateurs et infrastructures de recyclage des emballages en norvège au 20e siècle

Cet article étudie la genèse du citoyen-consommateur recycleur norvégien en abordant le recyclage en tant qu’activité culturelle – expression d'un sentiment environnementaliste, habitude quotidienne et attente sociale – et en tant qu’infrastructure technologique, constituée de stations de traitement, de cadres juridiques, de systèmes de transport et enfin des technologies de recyclage. À l'aide du concept de ‘jonctions de recyclage’ pour comprendre les processus historiques de recyclage, cet article s'intéresse particulièrement aux emballages de boissons pour arguer que dans un État vert moderne, un recyclage efficace doit allier une practicalité soutenue par la technologique et une citoyenneté de consommation verte, faisant appel à des acteurs très divers.

Umweltbewusstsein an der recycling-schnittstelle: norwegische verbraucher und recycling-infrastrukturen für verpackungen im 20. jahrhundert

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Entwicklung des Umweltbewusstseins und der Praxis des Recyclings bei norwegischen Verbrauchern. Er beleuchtet Recycling sowohl als kulturelle Aktivität – d.h. als Ausdruck eines wachsenden Umweltbewusstseins, als tägliche Gewohnheit und soziale Erwartung – und als technologische Infrastruktur aus Entsorgungsstationen, rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen, Transportsystemen und den eigentlichen Wiederverwertungstechnologien. Der Autor verwendet das Konzept von ‘Recycling-Schnittstellen’ als Mittel zum Verständnis historischer Wiederverwertungsprozesse. Am Beispiel von Getränkeverpackungen argumentiert er, dass wirksames Recycling im modernen umweltbewussten Staat von einer Kombination aus technologisch ermöglichter Verbraucherfreundlichkeit und Umweltbewusstsein der Bevölkerung abhängig ist und eine Vielzahl von Akteuren involviert.

Type
Articles
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 22 , Issue 3: Recycling and Reuse in the Twentieth Century , August 2013 , pp. 499 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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References

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