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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,  
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask], by 9  
October 2009.