ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Wasteful, Deceptive Recycling: Cement Bags as Forensic Devices in Mao-era China

• In Event: Hazards, Accidents, and Knowledge Production in Modern Industry

English Abstract

Through the case of cement bags, this paper explores how containers can function not just as logistical tools but epistemological ones as well. Cement bags played an important role in the troubleshooting, quality control, and study of construction in Mao-era China. Under immense pressure to reduce their use of scarce resources, workers in cement factories tried to conserve paper by using thinner bags, incorporating recycled materials, or simply re-using old bags. Although factories touted their paper savings, each of these practices often led to greater losses of cement in transport, as the bags were often weak and flimsy. Government documents about accidents and malpractice investigations reveal, moreover, that these thrifty practices could also leave investigators with incomplete or inaccurate information when something went wrong. In addition to protecting the material, the bags were supposed to have labels or markings indicating the provenance, type, and grade of cement they contained. Without this information, engineers and technical workers found it difficult to conduct systematic research on faulty structures and low-quality concrete. Through its examination of bagging practices and research troubles, this paper thus highlights the importance of logistics and material management to knowledge production in Mao-era China. And, by exploring how workers and technical cadres navigated pressures to save both paper and cement, the paper also shows the political and scientific contestation involved in campaigns to recycle and conserve resources.

Author

• Niall Chithelen, University of California, San Diego