A. Rezazadeh Farahmand (Airin) MA

My project, "Synthetic Earth," situates the plastic crisis within the broader ecological crisis, arguing that plastic accumulation is both a cause and a symptom of a historically produced disconnection between humanity and nature under late capitalism. It aims, first, to historicise plastic’s rise as a disposable material in the twentieth century and to analyze the cultural mechanisms that enabled its rapid proliferation in the post-war period. Plastic’s invention represents not only a scientific and technological achievement, but also a profound socio-cultural transformation with lasting planetary consequences. The post-war synthetic boom fostered a distinct way of life commonly described as a “throw-away culture,” characterized by the prioritization of convenience over durability and the normalization of single-use consumption. Building on a cultural-historical analysis, the project argues that plastic accumulation is rooted in a particular relationship to nature, defined by the denial of scarcity and natural finitude, and a lethal desire to exert control over organic life forms. From this perspective, the plastic crisis emerges not merely as a problem of waste or material excess, but as a multifaceted phenomenon with existential, representational, and imaginative repercussions. By challenging dominant policy-driven approaches that frame plastic primarily as a waste-management or circular-economy issue, this dissertation calls for a more comprehensive understanding of plastic accumulation and its role in contemporary ecological breakdown.

• Environmental Humanities