Ryan Shum

Microplastics are particles and fibres of heterogeneous size, shape and chemical composition less than 5mm in diameter found to be ubiquitous across the planet. This anthropogenic pollutant exposes the inextricable entanglements of plastic and human/more-than-human bodies which forces us think through what it would mean to respond and live well in a ‘permanently polluted world’ (Liboiron et al., 2018). My research aims to follow researchers pioneering ways of responding to microplastics to explore the extent to which the production of knowledge about microplastics and how to respond to them also reflects (or not) notions of care and responsibility.