Adam Liebman is a PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at the University of California, Davis. From 2013 to 2015 he conducted research in Kunming in support of his doctoral dissertation, which is concerned primarily with something we all tend to spend too little time contemplating — garbage.

Does a day go by when those of us living in the Spring City don't see an octogenarian searching through the trash for plastic bottles? What is the motivation, and where does all of the 'picked' refuse end up? These are questions we at GoKunming have always pondered but never answered. So, for the past several months, we zapped Liebman a series of questions regarding his work and findings and he was kind enough to provide us with some eye-opening answers.

GoKunming: Could you start by explaining the basics of your research, including your overall focus, methodology...basically everything?

Adam Liebman: My research interests are quite broad, but generally are focused on everyday waste politics in contemporary China — I use this as a lens to think through some conceptual issues related to materiality, value, labor, care and crises. In terms of methodology, I informally interviewed over 100 people who are involved with scrap trading in Kunming.

This included garbage pickers who search for discarded objects of value in public spaces and waste bins, and then small scale scrap buyers who typically buy goods directly from urban residents, workers, and small businesses and transport their goods with bicycle-drawn carts. Next were larger scale scrap buyers who typically rent out old shop spaces or wareho