The Political Theory of Salvage

Explores the political and theoretical significance of the use of salvaging discarded materials by social movements during their protest activities.

The use of what others have thrown away by those who squat in abandoned buildings, build neighborhoods on seeming wasteland, and occupy public spaces has been a fundamental factor in the survival of social movements during their protest activities. In The Political Theory of Salvage, Jason Kosnoski explores the political and theoretical significance of the use of salvaging discarded materials during these protests. Not only does salvage provide raw material for maintaining encampments and structures but, more importantly, this activity also encourages anti-capitalist and radical democratic consciousness. Through the use of theorists such as John Dewey, Giles Deleuze, Lauren Berlant, Henri Lefebvre, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri, Kosnoski suggests new possibilities for both integrating salvage more widely into left political practice and rethinking organizational questions that have vexed contemporary anti-capitalist movements.