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 Outdated electronic appliances in Bolivia and the South-Central Andes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。它跟踪了电器的最后生命周期，研究了提取的部件和金属的储存、维修和交易。基于我之前对玻利维亚和安第斯-太平洋地区的电子设备市场的研究，它分析了在物质占有量和废物生产增加的历史文化和生态脆弱环境下的回收实践和残留物的循环。一方面关注过时电子产品的日常处理和估值形式，另一方面关注交易实践和电子废物制度，我的目标是为人类学中的物质文化、消费和价值以及新兴的跨学科（电子）废物研究领域的文献做出贡献。这种双重关注使我能够以替代（地方和区域）经济模式和社会物质形式的估值作为探索全球电子废物问题的起点。

This project explores the transformation and (re-)evaluation of outdated electronic equipment in Bolivia from an economic anthropology and material culture approach.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 By focusing on the everyday handling and forms of valuation of outdated electronics on the one hand, and trading practices and electronic waste regimes on the other, I aim to contribute to the literature on material culture,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.