Crosslinking Catastrophe: Climate Change, Polymers, and the Political Utopia of War, Science, and Industry
At the onset of World War II, the US was deprived of essential commodities for warfare, most notably rubber, needed for automobiles and airplanes, and silk, required for military gear and parachutes. In response, the government galvanized a multistakeholder effort whose effects remain ever-present. In 1941, the US established the Copolymers Research Group, an organization in charge of advancing polymer science. As petroleum-based molecules imitating scarce natural materials, polymers were heralded as a “chemical miracle” that promised an American cornucopia of self-sufficiency, vital to the nation’s political and economic ambitions. While World War II ended, the Copolymers Research Group was just getting started. During the Cold War, polymer science in the US experienced unbridled development.
In this project, I draw from extensive multi-sited archival research conducted in the US to argue that the consolidation of polymer science in the twentieth century firmly situates climate change at the nexus of US military warfare, petrochemical production, and toxic pollution. My argument captures the socio-environmental implications of crosslinking—the formation of covalent bonds between polymer chains that expand functionality, creating a single, interconnected network. Focusing on the collaboration between chemist Carl Marvel (University of Arizona, known as the father of polymer science), the US Air Force, and DuPont Corporation from the 1940s through the 1980s, I trace how the synthesis of elastomers (i.e., polyurethane), fibers (i.e., nylon, para-aramid), and thermoplastics (i.e., polyetheretherketone, polycarbonate, polytetrafluorothylene) crosslinked not only polymer chains but also technoscience, militarism, and fossil-fuel extraction, expanding the functionality of American imperialism. Driven by Cold War imperatives, polymer research engineered materials to endure extreme conditions required for warplanes, ballistic missiles, and military equipment. What began as a defense-industry innovation soon revolutionized American consumerism: goods such as automotive components, medical devices, diapers, food containers, and apparel developed as war byproducts, making polymers ubiquitous. Polymers represent the quintessential “war matter,” driven by military combat, produced through fossil-fuel extraction, and sedimented as toxic chemicals resisting elemental erosion and disrupting ecosystems.
I examine the bio-geo-political entanglements of polymers to show how the crosslinks between militarism, science, and industry in the US set out to create an imperial utopia that overextended into a climate catastrophe. If Max Liboiron (2021) argues that “pollution is colonialism,” in this project I argue that pollution—and, by extension, climate change—constitutes an imperialist manifestation borne through the synthesis of multiscalar violence.