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Abstract
The mid-twentieth century marks the proposed beginning of the Anthropocene, wherein human activities have irreversibly changed the environment, partly due to the accumulation of plastics from food packaging. Practice theories have contributed to understanding these activities, with some studies shifting the focus from isolated practices to the configurations they form to explain such significant social phenomena. This article uses the rise of packaging foods as an example to investigate how practices emerge as part of a configuration. Based on archival issues of the magazine Neue Verpackung (1948–1958)—pioneering magazine of the German packaging industry—I elaborate how the paradigm of rationalization orchestrated formerly separate practices toward converging and aligning, forming a configuration of densely interconnected and interdependent practices that eventually established food packaging as an essential component of transportation and retail sale. Insights into the emergence of a past configuration that remains relevant today can help transform current configurations, leading to the reduction of packaging waste.
Contributor Notes
Anne Müller is a Doctoral Candidate at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and a Research Associate at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy, Germany. She studied sociology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, including a study abroad program at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and resource management at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In her doctoral thesis, she explores the generation and prevention of food packaging waste, employing and advancing theories of social practice. Email: anne.mueller@geo.uni-halle.de