Hegel on responsability and the family.docx

8/17/2019 Hegel on responsability and the family.docx

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Pravin Jeyaraj, Extract from PhD Thesis

Resistance in Household Recycling

The UK government has placed the household at the centre of its waste

and recycling policy !ince "##$,there has %een no general legal

o%ligation for households to recycle or, indeed, even to present waste for

collection The state has traditionally %een a representative of what it

means to %e human at a particular moment& it is paternal %ecause the

'white( male was seen as the human, while everything else, including

women was non)human and pushed into the environment *egel said this

view came from the idea of the male as an independent consciousnessess

detached from its %ody, while the woman was connected to or in touch

with its %ody& the focus of a man+s life was in the paternal state, %ecause

the independent consciousness reuires the external %ody of pu%lic life,

while the woman+s life was private %ecause the consciousness is already

aware and connected to its %ody of the household or family - would argue

that it is still legitimate to consider the state as paternal or male and the

non)state environment as maternal or female, %ecause existing

policyma.ers in the U! and UK are in/uenced %y li%ertarian

paternalism"!o if law is an expression of the dialectic and the tool %y

which the lawma.er tames, the household is the unexplored wilderness 0t

" 1ichard Thaler and 2ass !unstein, Nudge: Improving decisions about health,

wealth and happiness, 'Penguin, 3ondon, 4$$#(, & 5ichael 6runwald, 7*ow

8%ama is using the !cience of 2hange9, TIME Magazine, 4 0pril 4$$#,

http:;;wwwtimecom;time;maga<ine;article;$,#"=",">>#"?@,$$html & The

2onservative Party, 7David 2ameron: The Aig !ociety9, !peech, "$ Bovem%er

4$$#,

http:;;wwwconservativescom;Bews;!peeches;4$$#;"";DavidC2ameronCTheCAig C!ocietyaspx (

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153,00.html

http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2009/11/David_Cameron_The_Big_Society.aspx




http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153,00.html





%ehaviour %ecause it is vital towards meetingnational targets in a cost

eHective way9I 8n the other hand, research from the Department for the

Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs 'Defra( indicates that, over the last

4$ years, household recycling rates have slowly increased and attitudes to

recycling have improved? The averageamount of waste recycled and not

recycled per person, in .ilograms, has increased and decreased

respectively Aetween the years "##";4 and 4$$>;#, the overall amount of

household waste not recycled per person fell %y a%out 4= from I"=.g to

@[email protected] and the amount of household waste recycled rose %y a%out "

Gurthermore, in a representative survey for Defra, #" of respondents in

4$$# said that they recycled instead of throwing away compared to =$

in 4$$= and >> said that people have a duty to recycle =8f course, it is

pro%lematic loo.ing at per)person weights for a num%er of reasons: some

people will recycle more than others, waste is collected on a household

not individual %asis and a " increase in recycling over 4$ years does

IDepartment for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 7Partial 1egulatory

-mpact 0ssessment: 2onsultation on -ncentives for 1ecycling %y *ouseholds9,

'5ay 4$$=(, para Lemphasis addedM

? Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 7*ousehold waste and

recycling in the UK+ '? Bovem%er 4$$#(, !ee 0ppendix

Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 7*ousehold waste and


= Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 74$$# !urvey of pu%lic

attitudes and %ehaviours towards the environment+, 4@ !eptem%er 4$$#& The

department has conducted periodic pu%lic attitudes surveys since "#>,

availa%le at http:;;wwwdefragovu.;statistics;environment;pu%lic)attitude; and

the general trend suggests improvement in attitudes and %ehaviour with regard

to the environment, %ut it is dicult to compare diHerent surveys %ecausediHerent categories and uestions are used each time

http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/environment/public-attitude/

http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/environment/public-attitude/



not appear to %e much of a rise *owever, recycling does appear to %e

going in the right, upward, direction and argua%ly a 7social norm9>

*ouseholds seem to have the growing tendancy to %ehave as the

government desires, so the uestion is why recycling is not yet a universal

practice or why it is ta.ing so long, relatively spea.ing

-t is argua%le that there is some resistance to su%mitting at the household

level Even though the amount of waste per person recycled rose from

"##";4, the amount of waste per person not recycled was still on an

upward trend until 4$$";4# This suggests that, for a%out "$ years, the

amount of waste recycled was not necessarily large enough to change the

trend of waste not recycledPutting the ru%%ish out for collection is a social

norm or societal ha%it"$5ala%ou argues that ha%it is automatic from the

%eginning& it starts oH with something accidental, what could %e a one)oH

or occasional, random act N - would argue will)to)power ) %ut, through

> Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 76overnment 1eview

of Faste Policy in England 4$""+, 0ugust 4$"", para =$

# Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 7*ousehold waste and


"$ *eather 2happells and Eli<a%eth !hove, in their "### paper, 7Ains and the

history of waste relations9 provide an account of the history of household waste

%ins and collection in the UK -n the ">$$s, pu%lic health legislation called for

each dwelling to have an 7ashpit privy9& the waste was collected, sold to

%usinesses and recycled to manufacture certain products 0s the nature of the

waste changed materially, its economic value fell, %ut waste disposal continued

Pu%lic health and environmental laws called for central waste deposits such as

landlls The paper is availa%le in the "onsumption, Everyday #i!e and

$ustainability 1eader, pu%lished %y 3ancaster University,http:;;wwwlancsacu.;fass;projects;esf;%inshtm

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/esf/bins.htm

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/esf/bins.htm



repetition, %ecomes learned"" 2ompletely changing a ha%it is not as fast

or easy as it sounds 70 great deal of %ehaviour is neither conscious nor

deli%erate, %ut is ha%itualO*a%itual %ehaviour is automatic, and responds

to contextual cues rather than explicit instructions9"4 !ometimes, %eing

told that recycling is a good thing to do is not enough -ndeed, *egel calls

ha%its second nature%ecausethey are simultaneously inherent and

learnedDespite the apparent resistance, however, the amount of waste

not recycled still fell in 4$ years %y a greater amount than %y which the

amount of waste recycled rose"@ 8ne might speculate that each person is

either reusing more pac.aging than %efore or %uying less disposa%le

pac.aging There is resistance to change& %ut su%mission to government

desires has already occurred and is occurring

*owever, as mentioned a%ove, it is still pro%lematic to loo. at per)person

or averageweight Fe are not all the same, so per)person weight is a

property of an a%stract person -n essence, the research indicates that the

a%stract person is recycling more and throwing away less Aut the only

role of this a%stract legal su%ject is to support universal norms N li.e

recycling or disposal ) and to possess legal rights 'to a waste and

"" 2atherine 5ala%ou, The %uture o! Hegel: lasticity, Temporality and &ialectic, "##,'3isa%eth During 'tr(, 1outledge, 4$$?(, =@)I: 7Fhat in the %eginning was merely an

accidental factOis changed through continual repetition of the same gestures, through

practice, achieving the integrity of a form9

"4 *ouse of 3ords, 'ehaviour "hange: (ritten Evidence !rom )*", The !elect 2ommittee

on !cience and Technology, 4I Bovem%er 4$"$, 0vaila%le from:

http:;;wwwparliamentu.;%usiness;committees;committees)a)<;lords)select;science)and)

technology)committee;inuiries;%ehaviour;, 44?

"@ Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 7*ousehold wasteand recycling in the UK+ '? Bovem%er 4$$#(, !ee 0ppendix

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/science-and-technology-committee/inquiries/behaviour/






recycling collection service( and duties 'none( -t is clear that itdoes not

re/ect reality fully Bational law and policy is not meant to address

ctional pro%lems while a%straction does not ta.e in account the

contradiction of the plastic individual The legal su%ject is not a 7fully

recognised concrete individual9"I-ndividual entities are plastic in that they

each have their own capacity to form and resist deformation, that is they

have an impact on each other9s environment and is a part of the other9s

environment"? The plasticity of the dialectic manifests in an individual

dialectic %etween resistance and change over time" This can %e seen

from a study %y the Faste 1esources 0ction Programme 'F10P(9s into

%arriers to household recycling: only of households admitted to not

recycling at all and @$ were classed as super)committed recyclers, %ut

the majority of households 'I( were classed as non)committed

recyclers or general committed recyclers, ie they accepted the universal

ideal or norm of recycling %ut, for whom, it was not translating fully in

their particular circumstances"= The research from F10P and Defra

indicate that it is uite possi%le, indeed pro%a%le, that, regardless of what

"IDou<inas, 2ostas '4$$$( The end o! human rights: "ritical #egal Thought at

the Turn o! the "entury , 4=

"? 5ala%ou, 4$$?

"Pravin Jeyaraj, 7Plasticity, 1ecycling and Procrastination: The Dialectic %etween

1esistance and 2hange9, Festminster 3aw 1eview,

http:;;wwwwestminsterlawrevieworg;wlr"php

"=Pococ., 1o%ert& !tone, -an& 2live, *elen& !mith, 1e%ecca& Jesson, Jill& Filc<a., !tefan,

7Aarriers to recycling at home9, 'Faste 1esources 0ction Programme, Aan%ury,

8xfordshire, 4$$>(, pI,

http:;;wwwwraporgu.;downloads;AarriersCtoC1ecyclingC!ummaryC1eport"#dea#c$?=@Ipdf

http://www.westminsterlawreview.org/wlr1.php

http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Barriers_to_Recycling_Summary_Report1.9dea9c06.5734.pdf


http://www.westminsterlawreview.org/wlr1.php





the average person does, a plastic individual would %elieve that recycling

is the right thing to do and yet not recycle to an extent -n other words, it

%oth wants to go forward and recycle and stay where it is Fhen *egel

descri%es plastic individuals as exemplary, he says they are +great and

free, grown independently on the soil of their own inherently su%stantial

personality, self)made and developing into what they 'essentially( were

and wanted to %e+">8n the one hand, the plastic individual is the ultimate

goal of what has gone %efore and thus at its pea.& on the other, it still has

some way to go and is the origin for what is still to come -n other words,

the plastic individual is at a point of le voir venir , where one can see what

is coming To %e plastic, therefore, involves a capacity to resist the future

and a capacity to su%mit to the future There are two opposites of

plasticity, %oth which involve forgetting our plasticity Gorgetting our

capacity to su%mit ma.es us stu%%orn or stagnant as if we are elastic

Gorgetting our capacity to resist ma.es us /exi%le, 7easily %ent9, docile,

su%missive"# Aoth instances lead to a form of death through a 7loss of

vitality94$ or a 7diminution of neuronal connections94" Elasticity is imposed

%y one %ody, /exi%ility %y another

%orgetting

">5ala%ou, 4$$?, "$

"#5ala%ou, (hat $hould (e &o (ith The 'rain+, '!e%astian 1and 'tr(, Gordham

University Press, 4$$>(, "4

4$5ala%ou, 4$$?, 4I& 5ala%ou, 4$$>,

4"5ala%ou, (hat $hould (e &o (ith The 'rain+, '!e%astian 1and 'tr(, GordhamUniversity Press, 4$$>(, I>



Gorgetfulness is an inherent property of any relationship 8ne could argue

that a ha%it is recycled %ehaviour Grom 5ala%ou9s metaphor of the plastic

%rain, a ha%it N or %ehaviour in general )comes from the repetition of

neuronal %onds& it is the recycling of a relationship %etween neurons

!ince conrmation of self)consciousness 'and hence self)consciousness

itself( arises out of connected neurons, it could %e argued that the

neuronal %ond is an act of *egelian recognition or recycling *a%it is an

inevita%le conseuence of self)consciousnessTo recycle means to

reiterate a relationship, not the amount of matter or material, %ut in the

%rain, the strength of the relationship can %e seen %y the existence of

material produced Just the relationship %etween the *egelian hus%and

and wife is em%odied in the procreation of children, the relationship

%etween the paternal state and the household is em%odied in the

production of waste44

Fhere the household9s relationship with the state is

supported %y the law, this is what *egel called 7legal ethical love9 The

recyclea%ility of the relationship indicated %y the 7presentation94@ of

material for collection %ut should not %e a%out the volume nor the type& in

a sense, -t is the thought the counts The legal denition of waste as

7su%stance or o%jectwhich the holder discards or intends or is reuired

44Grom a 5arxist perspective, the production of waste is a process that reuires

7denite connections and relations to one another9 whose operation has an

in/uence on nature:Karl 5arx, (age #abour as "apital, 'Girst pu%lished ">I#,

Grederic. Engels 'trans(,

"##@(http:;;wwwmarxistsorg;archive;marx;wor.s;">I=;wage)la%our;ch$?htm

4@ This is the technical term used %y all local authorities to descri%e the act of ahousehold leaving ru%%ish or recycling out for collection

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/ch05.htm




to discard94I does not diHerentiate %etween what really is waste, to %e

disposed, and what is usa%le or recycla%le4? The judicial reasoning in

)R", concerned a%out not undermining the eHectiveness of the LEUM

directive, seems to include most production residues as waste, interpreted

as a discard The fact that the residue is disposed of or used in an

environmentally responsi%le way and without su%stantial treatment does

not help, even if it is useful Fhat su%seuently happens to it is not the

criterion4 -n a sense, waste is the gift 'a present( that the household

voluntarily gives 'presents( as a sign of its relationship with the state %ut

is independent of the relationship The very idea of 7presenting9 implies a

temporal act of the household sending waste into un.nown future for the

legal environment to deal with The household recognises that the local

authority is legally o%liged to collect household waste and recycling and

the local authority recognises the household9s need to forget Fhat the

local authority actually does with the collected material is not a

fundamental part of the relationship with the household The household

trusts the local authority to deal with the waste in the way that is

appropriate or as it has promised 0s a result, the household, the *egelian

wife, can 7forget9 a%out it %ecause it has %een ta.en care oH %y the

4I EU Directive on waste, #";"?;EE2, 0rticle " & Environmental Protection 0ct

"##$, section =?

4? 8pinion of 0)6 Jaco%s in Tom%esi, 2ase 2)@$I;#I L"##=M 2531 =@

4 0lec !amuels, 7The legal concept of waste9, Journal of Planning and

Environmental 3aw, 4$"$, "@#", "@#4& 0128 2hemie Bederland 3td v 5inister

van ol.shuisvesting, 1uimtelij.e8rdening en 5ilieu%eheer '2)I">;#=( L4$$$ME21 -)II=? 'E2J '?th 2ham%er((



*egelian hus%and, the state4=*owever, the relationship %rea.s down

when the local authority does not appear to listen to its residents, for

whatever reason, and accept the gift4> -n a sense, the passing of waste is,

li.e law, a sign or expression of the dialectic

Therefore, it could %e argued that the %etter the relationship with the

state, the more waste the household produces for presenting -n the %rain,

the strongest neuronal relationships are supported %y the highest

a%undance of %iological matter -n a sense, waste is a signier of a

wealthy relationship and a su%missiveness or generosity to the state4#

0fter all, the more you %enet in a particular 'legal( environment, the

more you love it and are predisposed to preserving it This idea of waste

as a signier of wealth echoes 5arx, who argues that the vast majority of

4=Philippopoulos)5ihalopoulos, 70%sent Environments: Theorising Environmental3aw and the 2ity9, 4$$=, 1outledge;6lass*ouse, 8xford, UK,"#& -n the course of

writing this chapter, - experienced directly the sense of reliance and trust we

place on the local authority& on one particular day the residual waste had not

%een collected at all as it was supposed to %e This omission was rectied the

next day and there was a mechanism in place to let my local authority .now of

its failure& 3ondon Aorough of !utton, http:;;wwwsuttongovu.;indexaspxQ

articleidR@@#

4> Kenny 5cKay, 7*omeowners %last council over failure to collect ru%%ish for

two months+, !T local, "" January 4$"4,http:;;localstvtv;coat%ridge;news;4I#@)homeowners)%last)council)over)failure)

to)collect)ru%%ish)for)two)months;& The !un, 72ouncil9s ru%%ish9, " Jan 4$"",

http:;;wwwthesuncou.;sol;homepage;news;@@4">#;Ainmen)fail)to)collect)

ru%%ish)for)up)to)four)wee.shtml & !teve Doughty and 2laire Ellicott, 7S-t9s not a

major pro%lem: 2ouncil leader defends lac. of %in collection for a 58BT*

despite mountains of ru%%ish, rats and a vile stench9, Daily 5ail, I January 4$"",

http:;;wwwdailymailcou.;news;article)"@I@>=;1u%%ish)crisis)2ouncil)leader)

defends)lac.)%in)collection)58BT*html& !teve Aagnall, 72ouncils under re for

failing to collect 2hristmas ru%%ish+, Daily Post;Fales 8nline,

http:;;wwwwalesonlinecou.;news;local)news;den%igh;4$"$;"4;@$;councils)under)for)failing)collect)christmas)ru%%ish)#"I)4=#$?I?;

http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3639


http://local.stv.tv/coatbridge/news/24963-homeowners-blast-council-over-failure-to-collect-rubbish-for-two-months/


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3326189/Binmen-fail-to-collect-rubbish-for-up-to-four-weeks.html


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343867/Rubbish-crisis-Council-leader-defends-lack-bin-collection-MONTH.html


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/denbigh/2010/12/30/councils-under-for-failing-collect-christmas-rubbish-91466-27906545/














society cannot aHord the much of what is produced whilst those who can

aHord cannot cope with the volumes& the waste and recycling system is

thus meant to create space for the household to %uy more@$ *owever,

research for the 3ocal 6overnment 0ssociation indicates that social

demographics have an impact on the amount of waste produced,@"

particularly the si<e of the household %ut not necessarily income@4 - would

argue therefore that the wealth or a%undance to which Aaudrillard and

5arx refer is the wealth of the relationship, the sense of trust -n putting

its trust in the local authority or the state, the household 7forgets as soon

as it consumes, spits out %efore it chews, throws its o%ject into the past

%efore they are even aired in the presentnot production for the sa.e of

4# Jean Aaudrillard, The "onsumer $ociety: Myths and $tructures,'!age , "##>(,

I@ -n: Philiippopoulos)5ihalopoulos, 70%sent Environments: Theorising

Environmental 3aw and the 2ity9, 4$$=, 1outledge;6lass*ouse, 8xford, UK, "#>:7The production of waste rather than goods is the main indication of a%undance,

auence and social pre)eminence: Vwaste even appears ultimately as the

essential function, the extra degree of expenditure, super/uity, the ritual

uselessness of Vexpenditure for nothingS %ecoming the sites of production of

value, diHerence and meanings on %oth the individual and the social levelS9

@$ Grederic. Engels, 7-ntroduction to Karl 5arx9s Fage 3a%our and 2apital9, ">#":

Karl 5arx, (age #abour as "apital, 'Girst pu%lished ">I#, Grederic. Engels

'trans(, "##@(, http:;;wwwmarxistsorg;archive;marx;wor.s;">I=;wage)

la%our;indexhtm: 78n the one hand, immeasura%le wealth and a super/uidity ofproducts with which the %uyers cannot cope 8n the other hand, the great mass

of society proletariani<ed, transformed into wage)la%ourers, and there%y disa%led

from appropriating to themselves that super/uidity of products9

@" Jim Dunton, 7Fhose residents are the greenest of them allQ9, #ocal

-overnment "hronicle, 4 Bovem%er 4$$#

@4 Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, artial Regulatory

Impact )ssessment: "onsultation on Incentives !or Recycling by Households, 5ay4$$=, para @")4

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm






usage or desira%ility %ut production for the sa.e of production9@@1eusing

could %e regarded as proper digestion, where the household chews

properly %efore spitting it out or digesting it, a form of aero%ic digestion

compared to the anaero%ic digestion %y %acteria to deal with organic

waste The diHerent priorities of the waste hierarchy@I could %e regarded

as the varying degrees of plasticity or materiality of the dialectic %etween

the state and the household@?Fe are always nearly there %ut not uite

The legally)reuired waste hierarchy recognises the plasticity, or even

super/uidity@, of waste 0t each priority level, waste resists %eing

deformed into something else while its use changes Therefore, the

government9s desire to 7move %eyond our current throwaway society to a

V<ero waste economyS in which material resources are re)used, recycled

and recovered+@= is argua%ly unrealistic %ecause of the nature of waste -f

anything, waste is capital for the relationship %etween household and

state %ecause it 7consists of raw materials, instruments of la%our, and

means of su%sistence of all .inds, which are employed in producing new

@@Philiippopoulos)5ihalopoulos, 70%sent Environments: Theorising Environmental

3aw and the 2ity9, 4$$=, 1outledge;6lass*ouse, 8xford, UK, "#>

@IDirective 4$$>;#>;E2 of the European Parliament and of the 2ouncil of

"# Bovem%er 4$$> on waste and repealing certain Directives, 0rticleI&Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 76overnment 1eview

of Faste Policy in England 4$""+, 0ugust 4$"", para @$)@"

@?

@!uper/uidity N a dialectical state %etween a lac. of viscosity and surface

tension

@= Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 76overnment 1eviewof Faste Policy in England 4$""+, 0ugust 4$"", para 4>&



raw materials, new instruments and new means of su%sistence9 @> There+s

no such thing as a <ero waste capitalist economy, %ecause waste is legally

anything that is not wanted& whether someone else wants it is %eside the

point -t seems li.e more of an aspiration than an achieva%le goal7Wero

waste9, therefore, points to a %rea.down in or negation of the dialectic

%etween state and the household, with nothing %eing passed %etween

them The waste would have to %e passed to someone else During the

last I$ years, the law@# has ena%led private companies to ta.e over

operational responsi%ility for waste collection and disposalI$Bon)state

actors have lled the gap left %y the traditional *egelian hus%and Aut it is

not necessarily due to a seduction of the household& it is passed from one

hus%and to another, li.e Jocasta -n a sense, 7<ero waste9 is an attempt %y

the state to forget that its relationship with the household is not automatic

%ut depends on the household9s choice to su%mit

%rom Mutual Recognition to Master.$lave &ialectic

-n forgetting that wealth is an expression of the relationship, the state

distorts the law from an expression of recognition to one of the

master;slave dialectic, where an independent 5aster sees the passively

su%missive !lave as the means %y which to o%tain the third 8ther The

@> Karl 5arx, (age #abour as "apital, 'Girst pu%lished ">I#, Grederic. Engels

'trans(, "##@(, http:;;wwwmarxistsorg;archive;marx;wor.s;">I=;wage)

la%our;ch$?htm

@# Primarily the 2ontrol of Pollutions 0ct "#=I and Environmental Protection 0ct

"##$

I$PravinJeyaraj, +Plasticity, 1ecycling and Procrastination: The Dialectic Aetween1esistance and 2hange9, (estminster #aw Review 'Ge%uary 4$"4(, ?







change re/ects the sadomasochistic love triangle in Pauline 1egan9s The

$tory o! %etween 8, her lover 1ene and his %rother !ir !tephenI" 0t

rst, the *egelian wife 'the household( su%mits to the *egelian hus%and

'the state(, who rationally imposes limits in his actions to ensure the

survival of the wife& if the wife dies, the hus%and dies *owever, 3ater on,

the hus%and presents the wife to another man, who demands loveless

o%edience -nstead of a marriage driven %y legal ethical love, the

relationship %etween the state su%stitute and the household is part of

Deleu<e and 6uatteri9s 7production of industry9 or 5arx9s production of

social relations, where all the householdis essentially a wor.er in a

2orporationI4 This can %e seen from discussions in government literature

a%out 7waste as a resource9 and a 7<ero waste economy9,I@ and more

generally on the imposition of targetsII -n the master;slave dialectic,

there is an apparent im%alance in the relationship and what was

essentially a family is transformed into a wor.place or economy, ie a

situation driven %y economics 'from the 6ree., oi/onomia, for 7household

I" Jessica Aenjamin, The 'onds o! #ove: psychoanalysis, !eminism and the

problem o! domination, 'Pantheon, "#>>(, ?

I4 6eorg Filhelm Griedrich *egel, hilosophy o! Right , 'rst pu%lished ">4",

Dover 4$$?(, para 4?$: 72orporation9 is what *egel calls a company and legal

ethical love protects the slave;wor.er as it does the *egelian wife

I@ Department for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs, 76overnment 1eview

of Faste Policy in England 4$""+, 0ugust 4$"", para I,4>

II European Union, Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfll o

waste'transplanted into UK law as Faste and Emissions Trading 0ct 4$$@(,0rticle ?



management9( -n this respect, incentivisationI? could %e viewed as

anattempt to re%alance the dialectic, li.e paying a fairI wage in a

contractual relationship The state is already o%liged to oHer a waste and

recycling collection service -f the household presents waste for recycling

'acceptance(, it will receive a reward 'consideration( The aim of

theincentive appears to re%alance the dialectic %y su%stitution, ma.ing up

for the lac. of recognition -n a sense, the state su%stituteis paying for the

love of the household, which is owed to the state, creating a

7concu%inage where the chief factor is the satisfaction of natural desire9I=

-n the 2orporation, employees are passed from capitalist to capitalist&

more specically, the wife %ecomes a sex wor.er or prostitute

Xet, it could %e argued that incentives still return the master;slave

dialectic to one of mutual recognition This can %e seen from a selection of

residents+ commentsI> in relation to the rst two incentivised household

recycling schemes in England, for the 1oyal Aorough of Findsor and

I?The literature on incentives and %ehaviour change use the term +incentives9 to

refer to nancial or economic instruments that are either %oth positive incentives

'rewards, su%sidies( and negative incentives 'nes, punishment( Gor the purpose

of this thesis, - use incentives itself as a synonym for positive incentives and

compulsion or nes as synonyms for negative incentives

I The uestion of the fairness of an incentive of ?? points per .ilogram ofrecycla%les, as paid %y 1ecycle%an., is %eyond the scope of this thesis

1ecycle%an. says that its payouts are capped at Y"@? a year, which is euivalent

to just under Y4$ a wee. 2ertainly, 5arx would point out that the amount that

the household is paid is less that the value of its la%our)power

I= *egel, ">4", para "@ ) 0ddition

I> The comments are a com%ination of local authority press releases and

journalistic news reports posted on Xoutu%e %y 1ecycle%an., the companyoperating the incentive scheme



5aidenheadI#and *alton Aorough 2ouncil?$ -n *alton+s own press release,

local resident 2lare *art is uoted as saying: 7-t has %een really easy to

recycle and it is no di0erent to what we were doing anyway The only

diHerence is we are now getting rewarded !or it which is great 9?"

Thissuggests that she did not need a incentive to change her %ehaviour,

%ecause she was already recycling, %ut she still appreciated the

recognition !imilarly, in Findsor and 5aidenhead, the importance of the

incentive was also downplayed %y residents who were interviewed %y

journalists !tuart 5iles gave the impression that the incentive was a

%onus rather than the purpose for doing something: 7- would do it %ecause

we believe in that and we got /ids so we want to teach them that

recycling is good thing %ut, at the end of the day, having a reward doesn1t

necessarily help me further %ut it o%viously rewards me !or being a better

citizen, - supposeS?4

John Eldridge told 3ondon Tonight: 7!ometimes you

don9t li.e %eing told what to do and we9ll ta.e oHense to that Aut if it9s a

scheme where the community can join in and is actually earning rewards

I#Faste -mprovement Betwor., 7-ncentives, rewards and %ehavioural change N 1oyal

Aorough of Findsor and 5aidenhead+, '1oyal Aorough of Findsor and 5aidenhead,

5aidenhead, 4$""(, p?

?$*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 7*alton residents rewarded for recycling in %orough wide roll)

out9, '*alton Aorough 2ouncil, Fidnes, 4$"$(,

http:;;www4haltongovu.;content;newsroom;latestnews;"=I>QaR?II"Lemphasis

addedM

?"*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 7*alton residents rewarded for recycling in %orough

wide roll)out9 Lemphasis addedM

?4 7UK Ginds a !olution9, 'Xoutu%e, "? Decem%er 4$"$(,

http:;;wwwyoutu%ecom;user;greenphd"QfeatureRmheeZp;f;4?;aTKjyDr3eCI Lviewed = June 4$""M

http://www2.halton.gov.uk/content/newsroom/latestnews/1674866?a=5441

http://www.youtube.com/user/greenphd1?feature=mhee#p/f/25/aTKjyDrLe_4






for yourself or our schools in the area %y putting out recycling, Vwhich we

are being as/ed to do anyway S, it9s a win)win situation9?@ -n a news item

a%out the 6reater 3ondon 0uthority9s plans to encourage incentivised

recycling in 3ondon, one unnamed local resident said that it would %e

nice, 7even if it+s just to get a pint of mil. freeO it2s something to let you

/now that we are doing it - suppose that we all li/e to be praised for what

we do?I8f course, the a%ove comments represent the views of a handful

of households %ut it would appear that the main eHect of this particular

reward scheme is to oHer a Vslap on the %ac.S for recognition-ndeed, one

feature of the 1ecycle%an. scheme is that points can %e exchanged for

money)oH vouchers that have VThan. Xou for 1ecyclingS em%la<oned

across them 8n the one hand, the recognition is consideration for wor.

done provided %y a third party, li.e a prostitute& on the other hand, the

illicit relationship is sanctioned %y the hus%and and thus ena%les mutual

recognition

0rgua%ly, the oHer of incentives has had the desired eHect of increasing

recycling 0ccording to Findsor and 5aidenhead9s own data, there was an

average increase of @? in the weight of recycla%le material collected

over the course of the scheme9s pilot period from June 4$$# to 4$"$ The

scheme was then rolled)out in full across the %orough, with a recycling

rate of @# and a =" opt)in rate??-n *alton, $ of households in the

?@Recycle'an/ in the 3454$"$%ideo "? Decem%er 4$"$, viewed = June 4$"",

http:;;wwwyoutu%ecom;user;greenphd"QfeatureRmheeZp;f;44;FJpv*G)ag-

?I i%id

http://www.youtube.com/user/greenphd1?feature=mhee#p/f/22/WJ6pvHF-agI

http://www.youtube.com/user/greenphd1?feature=mhee#p/f/22/WJ6pvHF-agI



pilot area activated their 1ecycle%an. accounts? and participating

households recycled $ more waste on average than non)participating

households?=, during the six)month pilot scheme 0 more recent survey of

*alton residents in 4$"" showed that =# were recycling more freuently

since the start of the programme?> This seems to suggest that individuals

value %eing recognised for what they do, even if the recognition is

nancial or su%stitutionary and designed to oHset a previously distorted

view of law 8n the one hand, the distortion was the provision of waste %y

the household to the state for nothing, without incentives& 8n the other

hand, the state was already providing what the household wanted, so the

incentives distorted that There appears to %e a dialectic %etween a

marriage of +legal ethical love+ and a 7concu%inage9 The plasticity of the

dialectic %etween the household and the state comprises two

simultaneous moments N mutual recognition and master;slave dialectic )

that form and resist each other

?? 1oyal Aorough of Findsor and 5aidenhead, 7-ncentives, rewards and %ehavioural

change N 1oyal Aorough of Findsor and 5aidenhead+, '1oyal Aorough of Findsor and

5aidenhead, 5aidenhead, 4$""(, p?

? 1esponse from Greedom of -nformation 1euest received on @ !eptem%er

4$"$

?=*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 7*alton residents rewarded for recycling in %orough wide roll)

out9, '*alton Aorough 2ouncil, Fidnes, 4$"$(,

http:;;www4haltongovu.;content;newsroom;latestnews;"=I>QaR?II"

?>*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 71ecycling rewards scheme extended to all *alton

residents9, '*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 4$""(,http:;;www@haltongovu.;news;newsroom;"4I4;


http://www3.halton.gov.uk/news/newsroom/126462/





The state, at %oth local and central government level, has also pointed out

the importance of mutual recognition 2ouncillor 1o% Polhill, the leader of

*alton council, has said that the council9s approach is 7to reward our

residents for their recycling eHorts9?# Eric Pic.les, the !ecretary of !tate

for 2ommunities and 3ocal 6overnment said: 7The %est way to encourage

people to recycle is not to punish families, %ut to encourage and reward

them !or going green9 !imilarly, 2aroline !pelman, the !ecretary of !tate

for the Environment, Good and 1ural 0Hairs: 7Findsor and 5aidenhead

2ouncil have got it right %y rewarding people !or voluntarily doing the

right thing not penalising them for doing the wrong thing9$ Fhat is

interesting however is that %oth government ministers has placed

recognition %y rewards as a %etter alternative than punishing a failure to

recycle, presuma%ly %ecause the latter denies full recognition %y not

treating li.e adults"

, yet they still emphasise the importance of the

amount of waste recycled 0gain, it is clear that the plasticity of the

dialectic comprises mutual recognition and master;slave simultaneously

The tension %etween the two moments of the relationship suggests that

sometimes the master;slave dialectic will %e dominant Gor example, just

?#*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 71ecycling rewards scheme extended to all *altonresidents9, '*alton Aorough 2ouncil, 4$""(,

http:;;www@haltongovu.;news;newsroom;"4I4;

$ Department for 2ommunities and 3ocal 6overnment, 7-t9s time for recycling

rewards, not %in taxes9, '= June 4$"$(,

http:;;wwwcommunitiesgovu.;news;corporate;"$>@@I

" Eric Pic.les, 7Fe9ll %oost recycling with a gentle nudge9, 'The 6uardian, > June

4$"$(, http:;;wwwguardiancou.;commentisfree;cif)green;4$"$;jun;$>;recycling)reward)scheme


http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1608334

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jun/08/recycling-reward-scheme



http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1608334





as !ir !tephen reuired loveless o%edience from 84, some local

authorities have opted for de facto compulsory recycling through the

issuance of xed penalty notices, under section I of the Environment

Protection 0ct "##$3ondon Aorough of *arrow claimed that dry recycling

rates increased %y ?$ in tonnage in the rst year and 3ondon Aorough of

Aarnet saw an increase of 4> Fhat was interesting however was that

much of the increase was put down to an education and pu%lic awareness

campaign that mentioned that recycling was compulsory 0nd even

oHenders came into line after %eing issued with the rst warning@ 8ther

councils, such -slington Aorough 2ouncil, 3am%eth Aorough 2ouncil and

*ull 2ounty 2ouncil, too. a tone of reassurance in their literature to

residents %y emphasising that only repeat oHenders, who had received a

num%er of warnings, would %e ned, not those who had made an honest

mista.e or for whatever reason have %een una%le to put their recycling

%ins out a particular wee. The threat of punishment seems to have an

impact& most of the local authorities a%ove had not even issued a warning

letter, none had gone so far as to issue a xed penalty notice, let alone

prosecute and *arrow council said that recycling was compulsory %ut not

4 Aenjamin, "#>>, QQ

@ 72ouncils hail Vmagic of compulsory recycling9, '3etsrecyclecom, 4 Ge%ruary

4$$>(, http:;;wwwletsrecyclecom;news;latest)news;councils;councils)hail)magic)of)compulsory)recycling

http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/councils/councils-hail-magic-of-compulsory-recycling






enforcedI -t seems that households were choosing to su%mit, perhaps

more so than if they were oHered incentives

I1esponses to Greedom of -nformation reuest from 3ondon Aorough of Aarnet

'4= July 4$"4(, 3ondon Aorough of Aromley '4 July 4$"4(, 3ondon Aorough of*arrow '@$ July 4$"4( and 3ondon Aorough of Tower *amlets '4I July 4$"4(

Documents

Hegel on responsability and the family.docx