Archive for September 2009

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[ecrea] Call for Papers - 'Geographies of Experimental Infrastructure'

Tue Sep 15 12:35:45 GMT 2009



Call For Papers
2010 Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting
Washington, D.C., April 14-18, 2010

Geographies of Experimental Infrastructure
Organizers: James Evans and Andy Karvonen (University of Manchester)
Keywords: infrastructure, experimentation, environmental governance, citizenship

Infrastructure networks mediate the relations between humans and their material surroundings by defining particular configurations of nature and technology. In recent years, there has been a significant emphasis on the modernization of infrastructure service through progressive technomanagerial activities aimed at upgrading, replacing, and in some cases, privatizing these networks. At the same time, the ways in which people inhabit and use infrastructure are attracting greater attention in light of the pressing need to adapt to social, economic and environmental change. In response to these and other factors, a small number of non-state actors have begun to take a central role in the design, development, and management of infrastructure services. The inclusion of community groups, non-profit organizations, homeowners, and others as co-designers and co-managers of water, transportation, communication, and electricity services suggests the potential for infrastructure networks to adapt to new modes of governance and citizenship.

In this session, we propose to explore a wide variety of experiments and interventions in infrastructure that rework the relations between humans, nature, and technology. We take inspiration from the related literatures of environmental governance, political ecology, science & technology studies, and sustainable community development to interpret infrastructure networks as key sites for political and cultural debate. Papers may be theoretical or empirical in focus, and address urban or rural contexts in the developing or developed world. We welcome contributions on topics such as:

- The civics of infrastructure, including experiments in non-state infrastructure and insurgent forms of citizenship that extend and redefine sustainability
-  The spatial implications of upgrading and updating infrastructure services
- Collaborative forms of infrastructure governance between state, private, and community actors, including innovative participatory processes and methodologies - Political and cultural dimensions of adaptive and resilient infrastructure such as the adoption of autonomous or semi-autonomous technologies (rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines etc.) - The importance of scientific and bureaucratic actors in framing infrastructure provision through administrative policies, codes, etc.

If you are interested in participating in this session, please send an abstract (maximum 250 words) to the organizers, <(jp.evans /at/ manchester.ac.htm)>(jp.evans /at/ manchester.ac.uk) or <(andrew.karvonen /at/ manchester.ac.htm)>(andrew.karvonen /at/ manchester.ac.uk), by 9 October 2009.

For more information on the conference, see <http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2010/index.htm>http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2010/index.htm BESTS is a mailing list for researchers with an interest at the intersection of STS and the built environment. Its homepage is To subscribe, send the message "SUBSCRIBE BESTS forename surname" to ; to unsubscribe, send "UNSUBSCRIBE BESTS" to . If you want to reach the list manager personally, send a message to .

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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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