Reclaiming the Empire's Relics: Scrap Metal Collection as Emergent Labour in the Aftermath of Post-Soviet Infrastructure

• In Event: Disaster Environments: Human/Non-Human Entanglements in the Wake of Catastrophe

Abstract

This paper explores how, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, scrap metal collection emerged as a new form of labour in the port town of Poti, Georgia and elucidates how the “remnants of the Empire” subsequently evolved into capitalist commodities, ushering in new economic relationships. In the early 1990s, the dismantling of established infrastructures became a defining feature of this transitional period. In the absence of formal employment opportunities, gleaning of the “monstrous carcasses” and leftovers of infrastructures emerged as a prominent informal economic activity, and scrap metal collectors became integral to the chain of precarious labour, transforming this form of informal labour into a lifeline of survival. The new world created by the ruins of Soviet infrastructures is a ruderal world where an inhospitable environment gives birth to unique human-nonhuman relationships that help transform the built environment in Poti. I suggest that, in the absence of traditional or stable environments, people, like ruderal plants in disturbed ecosystems, find ways to connect and adapt to the remains of the Soviet era. The ruderal world represents an environment shaped by the remains of Soviet infrastructures and the interactions between humans and these remnants. It emphasises the ability of individuals to navigate and make use of the disrupted urban ecology for survival and economic purposes.

Author

• Esma Berikishvili, Ilia State U (Georgia)