Material Possession and Circulation. Outdated electronic appliances in Bolivia and the South-Central Andes

本项目从经济人类学和物质文化的角度探讨玻利维亚过时电子设备的改造和(重新)评估。它遵循家用电器的最终生命周期，着眼于储存做法、修复和交易提取的零部件和金属。根据我以前对玻利维亚和安第斯-太平洋地区电子电器市场的研究，它分析了在稀缺的历史文化和生态脆弱的环境中，在物质占有和废物产生增加的时刻，回收做法和残留物的循环。通过一方面关注过时电子产品的日常处理和估值形式，另一方面关注贸易实践和电子废物制度，我的目标是为人类学中关于物质文化、消费和价值的文献，以及(电子)废物研究的新兴跨学科领域做出贡献。这种双重关注使我能够以替代的(当地和区域)经济形式和社会物质形式的估值为起点，探讨电子废物的全球问题。

This project explores the transformation and (re-)evaluation of outdated electronic equipment in Bolivia from an economic anthropology and material culture approach. It follows the final life-cycle of appliances, looking at storage practices, repair and trading of extracted components and metals. Based on insights from my previous research on the market for electronic appliances in Bolivia and the Andean-Pacific, it analyses recycling practices and the circulation of residues at a moment of heightened material possession and waste production in a historical culture of scarcity and an ecologically fragile environment. By focusing on the everyday handling and forms of valuation of outdated electronics on the one hand, and trading practices and electronic waste regimes on the other, I aim to contribute to the literature on material culture, consumption and value in anthropology, and the emergent interdisciplinary field of (electronic) waste studies. This dual focus allows me to take alternative (local and regional) economic modalities and socio-material forms of valuation as a starting point to explore the global issue of electronic waste.