More-than-human politics : the case of plastic bags

Suddenly everyone is talking about plastic bags. The muted chatter that has surrounded them for years has become loud and insistent. Open any newspaper around Australia and you are confronted with headlines like: The Battle of the Bag, Eco Worriers—How Buying the Groceries Presents Environmental Dilemmas, Ban on Bags Can’t Carry Weight, or Plastic Bags—the Cane Toads of Capitalism! As this publicity shows bags have changed, they’ve become contested matter, a site of controversy over their uses and impacts. As scientists discover marine life choking on bags and environmental activists document their endless afterlife in landfill, they have been transformed from innocuous disposable container to dangerous threat to the environment.