Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology· 2026Q1
The Feral Life of Plastic Waste: Third Nature and Speculative Aesthetics
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Plastic waste and non-human animals are developing a shared 'feral' existence, a 'third nature' distinct from both human culture and original wilderness, driven by their evolutionary interplay and explored through speculative aesthetics.
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Key points
- Plastic waste and non-human animals are developing a shared 'feral' existence.
- This 'ferality' is conceptualized as a 'third nature,' distinct from human culture and original wilderness.
- The evolutionary interplay between animals and plastics drives this phenomenon.
- Speculative aesthetics, inspired by new materialism and feminism, provides a framework for analysis.
- Artistic projects can visualize these speculative, feral futures.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This article explores the interactions between plastic waste and non-human animals from a non-anthropocentric and future-oriented perspective. After a first introductory section, I argue for a plane of analogy connecting animals and plastics. If extended into the future, this plane of analogy shows a new feature: ferality. Contra Hegel, Heidegger, and some contemporary scholars, I contend in the third section that ferality cannot be framed as a regression of “second nature” (human culture) to “first nature” (non-human nature), but should be understood as post-domestic “third nature”. The argument for the future ferality of animals and plastic waste also urges consideration of their evolutionary interplay, which I analyze in the fourth section through the lens of a speculative aesthetics of new materialist and feminist inspiration. The last section considers artistic projects that grant imaginative access to speculative, feral futures in which life and plastics can no longer be disentangled.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Cultural Studies
Cultural StudiesSocial Sciences