Thompson, Michael

Education and Career

Thompson began his college education at the Royal Military College of Science in Shiverham, UK, where he studied chemistry, mathematics, and statistics from 1960 to 1961. In 1962, he entered the University College of London, where he earned a bachelor's of science in anthropology. From 1965 to 1968, Thompson studied social anthropology at Corpus Christi College Oxford, graduating with a bachelor's of literature. In 1973, he returned to the University College of London and received a doctoral degree in anthropology in 1976.

Upon completion of his advanced education, Thompson began a career as a professional researcher. Since 1979, he has been employed as a senior research scientist at the Institute for Policy and Management Research in Santa Monica, California (1979–80); at International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria (1980–85); and at the University of Warwick Business School's Institute for Management Research and Development (1985–87). Since 1987, Thompson has been serving as the self-employed director of the Musgrave Institute in London, which has numerous contracts with other research firms around the world. In 1995, he also took on the positions of professor II at the University of Bergen in Norway and senior researcher at the Norwegian Research Center in Management and Organization.

Rubbish Theory

In relation to the sociology of garbage, Thompson is best known for the introduction of rubbish theory and his continuing work with these ideas. His 1979 book Rubbish Theory: The Creation and Destruction of Value was the seminal work on this topic. In it, he made a strong argument for the need to focus more attention on unvalued, or “rubbish,” objects in order to understand how objects are defined and altered with regard to value. Understanding how societies value their material goods is important for social scientists because it is recognized that all cultures distinguish between the valued and the unvalued. Further, a certain degree of social consensus regarding these values is key to maintaining social order.

Rubbish theory states that there are three types of objects: transients, durables, and rubbish. Transients are durables that are socially visible objects with agreed-upon values. However, transients decrease in value over time and have finite lifespans because their value will eventually reach zero, while durables continually increase in value and have an infinite lifespan. The values of these objects are typically determined by the powerful within society. Rubbish, by comparison, is socially invisible and deemed unvalued.

Thomspon argued that the rubbish category is a medium for the potential rediscovery of a past transient object and its subsequent reappearance as a durable. An excellent example of this are automobiles that decline in value until they are discarded as worthless, but several years or decades later are rediscovered and labeled as “antiques” or “classics.” This is significant not only for explaining how items of declining value can eventually become objects of great worth but also for illustratig a means of bypassing the control of the powerful in society as to the determination of what is valued or not.

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