In Deadly Time

Abstract

This article examines the temporal dimension of waste in Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor as an instance of how modernity has produced a largely hidden domain of the non-identical and indeterminate. Through a consideration of the phenomena of uselessness, decay and poverty I argue that the temporal dimension of waste is constituted as a corrosive or malign `Deadly Time'. In placing such emphasis on time directed towards death, I aim to show that Mayhew's undisciplined researches can be seen as a valuable source for understanding why modern thinking struggles to come to terms with waste.