Personal profile
Research overview
Dr Patrick O'Hare is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow (FLF) in the Department of Social Anthropology. His research interests centre on recycling economies in Latin America and include the themes of labour, waste, recycling, infrastructure, and plastics. He has conducted research in Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and the UK.
Dr O'Hare's current UKRI-funded research project is entitled 'Transforming Plastics into Solidarity: Ethical Vertical Integration and Binational Recycling' and centres on intersections between social and circular economies in the Uruguayan and Argentine plastics industries.
After receiving his PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge in 2017, he held research positions at the Universities of Surrey, Manchester, and Cambridge. He forms part of both the AHRC-funded Cartonera Publishing Research Project, focused on the cardboard book-making publishing phenomenon in Latin America and the UKRI-funded Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre. At the University of Manchester he held an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research fellowship.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
-
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Plastic time: an introduction
O'Hare, P. & Irvine, R., 24 Mar 2026, In: Social Analysis. 69, 3, p. 1-23Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Don't forget the snacks: doing field research as a parent
Hope, J., Bastia, T., Cox, R., Jenkins, K., Lemanski, C., Mendo, T., Meth, P., Moeller, N., Okafor-Yarwood, I., O'Hare, P., Ray, C. & Williams, G., 28 Jul 2025, The Routledge handbook of field research. Hammett, D. & Holmes, N. (eds.). 1st ed. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 129-138 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
-
Legacies of the ‘bridge man’: Catholic accompaniment, inter-class relations and the classification of surplus in Montevideo
O'Hare, P., 2025, Liberation Theology and Praxis in Contemporary Latin America : As it Was in the Beginning?. Geraghty, N. & Bradbury, P. (eds.). London : University of London Press, p. 53-82 29 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
-
Circular economies in an unequal world: waste, renewal and the effects of global circularity
O'Hare, P. (Editor) & Rams, D. (Editor), 25 Jan 2024, London : Bloomsbury Academic. 235 p.Research output: Book/Report › Anthology
Open Access -
Circular Economies in an Unequal World: Waste, Renewal, and the Effects of Global Circularity
O'Hare, P. & Rams, D., Jan 2024, London : Bloomsbury Academic. 248 p.Research output: Book/Report › Anthology
Projects
- 1 Active
-
Transforming Plastics into Solidarity: The role of bioplastics, social plastics, and just plastics in a circular economy
O'Hare, P. (PI)
1/02/24 → 31/01/27
Project: Fellowship
Activities
-
Lessons from the UN Plastics Treaty INC-4
O'Hare, P. (Speaker)
7 May 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
-
EPR and Inclusive Recycling: National and Regional Perspectives
O'Hare, P. (Speaker)
25 Apr 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
-
Disappearing the Plastic Proletarian
O'Hare, P. (Speaker)
4 Nov 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
-
The Cartonera Publishing Project: Empowering Vulnerable Communities for Sustainable Social Change
O'Hare, P. (Speaker)
1 Nov 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
-
Research Design Masterclass - University of Glasgow
O'Hare, P. (Speaker)
19 Oct 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Prizes
-
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
O'Hare, P. (Recipient), 25 May 2022
Prize: Election to learned society
Press/Media
-
Plastics Treaty: will the developing world be heard?
24/05/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Relating to Research
-
-
-
BBC Radio Scotland Mornings: Plastic Paddy
15/10/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Relating to Research
-
BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed: Rummage and Waste
8/07/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Relating to Research