Infrastructures as analytical approach

What does a bridge have in common with a money transfer company and a WhatsApp group? All three enable the movement of people, things, or ideas – be it cars, remittances, or social networks. They therefore constitute integrated socio-technical systems, or infrastructures, that connect and undergird different activities and phenomena.

In this seminar series, we have invited world-leading scholars to present state-of-the-art talks regarding infrastructure as an analytical framework. Ranging from conceptual discussions of people as infrastructure and techno-colonialism to the challenges of bank transfer to conflict-affected areas, the series will tackle such questions as: How do infrastructures shape our lives, facilitating some actions while impeding others? What are the rationalities that underpin these socio-technical systems? What do they enable, make visible or invisible? And how do contemporary infrastructures relate to histories of global circulation and accumulation in colonial and geopolitical formations?

The series will offer an introduction to infrastructure theories and analytical frameworks as well as an opportunity to discuss with leading scholars within this field

The series is organized under the auspices of the Diaspora Humanitarianism in Complex Crises (D-Hum) research project and contributes to the DIIS Tech research initiative on technology and power.

Keep an eye out for new events and watch or re-watch the webinars/seminars from the series below.