Frausin, Victoria and Tyler, Imogen (2025) Waste colonialism : grounding theory using participatory methods in the north of England. Masters thesis, Lancaster University.
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Abstract
This thesis critically examines the concept of Waste Colonialism and develops a broader framework for understanding it through participatory methodology. It focuses on how global waste flows and environmental harms are deeply intertwined with colonial power structures and capitalist systems, arguing that mainstream solutions are shaped by colonial capitalism influencing public common-sense and neutralising alternative approaches. It aims to develop an empirically grounded theory of Waste Colonialism by amplifying local voices and exploring grassroots alternatives that challenge dominant narratives of textile waste production and management. The objectives include critiquing mainstream solutions to textile waste, including the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework, and proposing transformative frameworks rooted in anticolonial solidarity and everyday resistance practices. To achieve these aims, the research employed experimental participatory methods, engaging communities in Lancaster and Morecambe through a series of "Sharing Yarns" workshops conducted between May and June 2024. These workshops facilitated discussions around personal garment stories, connecting them to broader systems of colonial capitalism and textile waste. Long-term collaborations with community groups such as Sewing Café Lancaster, Ref/Use Lab, Jwllrs and The Closing Loops Project enriched the study, enabling iterative co-creation of activist tools including a zine and a game. These outputs were designed to extend the research’s impact beyond academia, serving as platforms for collective storytelling, imagination, and planning toward alternative textile waste futures. The findings reveal that Waste Colonialism operates at the intersection of material waste, wasted lives, and enduring colonial power relations, perpetuating environmental injustices and systemic exploitation. By integrating historical memory and marginalized perspectives, the research critiques what I conceptualise as the "spells" of capitalist realism—such as the notions that "There is No Alternative" or "Consumer Purchasing is Our Only Power"—and highlights practices that resist these ideologies. Through its emphasis on grassroots collective action and community storytelling, this work contributes to redefining how we understand and address the contemporary crises of neo-colonial capitalism and environmental harm.