國立虎尾科技大學 |

The Development of Plastics in the United States : = A Political Economic, Historical, and Socioecological Analysis.

Record Type:	Language materials, manuscript : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	The Development of Plastics in the United States :/
Reminder of title:	A Political Economic, Historical, and Socioecological Analysis.
Author:	Hedlund, John.
Description:	1 online resource (183 pages)
Notes:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-11, Section: B.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International85-11B.
Subject:	Rubber. -
Online resource:	click for full text (PQDT)
ISBN:	9798382626017

The Development of Plastics in the United States : = A Political Economic, Historical, and Socioecological Analysis.
Hedlund, John.

The Development of Plastics in the United States :A Political Economic, Historical, and Socioecological Analysis. - 1 online resource (183 pages)

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-11, Section: B.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--North Carolina State University, 2023.

Includes bibliographical references

The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct an historical analysis of plastics as a raw material of production from the mid-19thcentury to the post-World War II period. This is done in light of two Marxian theoretical frameworks that deal with the political economy and socioecology of capitalism: the former being monopoly capitalism-imperialism, while the latter is the theory of social metabolism. This analysis is also conducted through a consideration of what I call the nature/society problematic: debate over how, or whether, to demarcate between social and natural phenomena. This debate is currently concentrated in the milieu of social metabolic scholarship and thought.Beginning in the 19thcentury, I trace the development of plastics of natural origin to synthetic plastics. Specifically, I analyze natural plastics such as rubber, gutta percha, and shellac; celluloid, the first semi-synthetic plastic material; Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, and a thermoset plastic; and the class of synthetic thermoplastics that first emerged between the two world wars and proliferated in the post-War period. In doing so, I consider the relationship between these materials and some critical technoeconomic developments, particularly in the ICT (information and communication technology), military, and transportation sectors, among others. Relatedly, I also consider the relationship between the larger politicaleconomic context and the ecological implications of plastics in its various phases of development.Finally, I conjoin the historical development and current state of plastics with the nature/society problematic. Analyzing the debate between metabolic rift and hybridist approaches to metabolism and use of the dialectical method, I conclude that while society is embedded and rooted in nature, the instance of plastics provides further insights into the ways in which social forms of organization demand distinction between social and non-social, or natural, phenomena.I conclude by suggesting directions for future research on plastics, the society/nature problematic, and the theoretical frameworks I employ. Plastics in its global, and contemporary, iteration requires further critical analysis in the social sciences, where the subject has largely been ignored. The society/nature problematic can be examined through other cases beyond plastic, to further concretize the questions it raises. Further analysis of the ways in which the theoretical frameworks of monopoly capitalism and social metabolism, and the politicaleconomic as well as the socioecological, interface and intersect is also called for.

Electronic reproduction.
Ann Arbor, Mich. :
ProQuest,
2024

Mode of access: World Wide Web

ISBN: 9798382626017Subjects--Topical Terms:

636455
Rubber.
Index Terms--Genre/Form:

554714
Electronic books.

The Development of Plastics in the United States : = A Political Economic, Historical, and Socioecological Analysis.
LDR:04045ntm a22003977 4500 001 1151884
005 20241118135854.5
006 m o d
007 cr mn ---uuuuu
008 250605s2023 xx obm 000 0 eng d
020 $a 9798382626017
035 $a (MiAaPQ)AAI30984023
035 $a (MiAaPQ)NCState_Univ18402041459
035 $a AAI30984023
040 $a MiAaPQ $b eng $c MiAaPQ $d NTU
100 1 $a Hedlund, John. $3 1478724
245 1 4 $a The Development of Plastics in the United States : $b A Political Economic, Historical, and Socioecological Analysis.
264 0 $c 2023
300 $a 1 online resource (183 pages)
336 $a text $b txt $2 rdacontent
337 $a computer $b c $2 rdamedia
338 $a online resource $b cr $2 rdacarrier
500 $a Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-11, Section: B.
500 $a Advisor: Longo, Stefano;Schulman, Michael.
502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--North Carolina State University, 2023.
504 $a Includes bibliographical references
520 $a The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct an historical analysis of plastics as a raw material of production from the mid-19thcentury to the post-World War II period. This is done in light of two Marxian theoretical frameworks that deal with the political economy and socioecology of capitalism: the former being monopoly capitalism-imperialism, while the latter is the theory of social metabolism. This analysis is also conducted through a consideration of what I call the nature/society problematic: debate over how, or whether, to demarcate between social and natural phenomena. This debate is currently concentrated in the milieu of social metabolic scholarship and thought.Beginning in the 19thcentury, I trace the development of plastics of natural origin to synthetic plastics. Specifically, I analyze natural plastics such as rubber, gutta percha, and shellac; celluloid, the first semi-synthetic plastic material; Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, and a thermoset plastic; and the class of synthetic thermoplastics that first emerged between the two world wars and proliferated in the post-War period. In doing so, I consider the relationship between these materials and some critical technoeconomic developments, particularly in the ICT (information and communication technology), military, and transportation sectors, among others. Relatedly, I also consider the relationship between the larger politicaleconomic context and the ecological implications of plastics in its various phases of development.Finally, I conjoin the historical development and current state of plastics with the nature/society problematic. Analyzing the debate between metabolic rift and hybridist approaches to metabolism and use of the dialectical method, I conclude that while society is embedded and rooted in nature, the instance of plastics provides further insights into the ways in which social forms of organization demand distinction between social and non-social, or natural, phenomena.I conclude by suggesting directions for future research on plastics, the society/nature problematic, and the theoretical frameworks I employ. Plastics in its global, and contemporary, iteration requires further critical analysis in the social sciences, where the subject has largely been ignored. The society/nature problematic can be examined through other cases beyond plastic, to further concretize the questions it raises. Further analysis of the ways in which the theoretical frameworks of monopoly capitalism and social metabolism, and the politicaleconomic as well as the socioecological, interface and intersect is also called for.
533 $a Electronic reproduction. $b Ann Arbor, Mich. : $c ProQuest, $d 2024
538 $a Mode of access: World Wide Web
650 4 $a Rubber. $3 636455
650 4 $a Synthetic products. $3 1060499
650 4 $a Historians. $3 1466369
650 4 $a Social change. $3 555520
650 4 $a Environmental impact. $3 1372606
650 4 $a Metabolism. $3 581368
650 4 $a Dialectics. $3 1465866
650 4 $a 19th century. $3 934375
650 4 $a 20th century. $3 934340
650 4 $a Social research. $3 1179269
650 4 $a Nature. $3 559309
650 4 $a Raw materials. $3 1113584
650 4 $a Imperialism. $3 559183
650 4 $a Plastics. $3 563477
650 4 $a Society. $2 eflch $3 934844
650 4 $a World War II. $3 1156593
650 4 $a Sociology. $3 551705
650 4 $a Military history. $3 810444
650 4 $a Political science. $3 558774
655 7 $a Electronic books. $2 local $3 554714
690 $a 0344
690 $a 0626
690 $a 0795
690 $a 0501
690 $a 0474
690 $a 0722
690 $a 0615
710 2 $a ProQuest Information and Learning Co. $3 1178819
710 2 $a North Carolina State University. $3 845424
773 0 $t Dissertations Abstracts International $g 85-11B.
856 4 0 $u http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=30984023 $z click for full text (PQDT)