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    Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruins, Retrofit, and Risk

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    Author
    Howe, Cymene; Lockrem, Jessica; Appel, Hannah; Hackett, Edward; Boyer, Dominic; More... Hall, Randal; Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew; Pope, Albert; Gupta, Akhil; Rodwell, Elizabeth; Ballestero, Andrea; Durbin, Trevor; el-Dahdah, Farès; Long, Elizabeth; Mody, Cyrus C.M. Less...
    Date
    2015
    Abstract
    In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, probes the generative potential of infrastructure at this historical juncture. Accounting for the conceptual and material capacities of infrastructure, the article argues for the importance of paradox in understanding infrastructure. Thematically the article is organized around three key points that speak to the study of infrastructure: ruin, retrofit, and risk. The first paradox of infrastructure, ruin, suggests that even as infrastructure is generative, it degenerates. A second paradox is found in retrofit, an apparent ontological oxymoron that attempts to bridge temporality from the present to the future and yet ultimately reveals that infrastructural solidity, in material and symbolic terms, is more apparent than actual. Finally, a third paradox of infrastructure, risk, demonstrates that while a key purpose of infrastructure is to mitigate risk, it also involves new risks as it comes to fruition. The article concludes with a series of suggestions and provocations to view the study of infrastructure in more contingent and paradoxical forms.
    Citation
    Howe, Cymene, Lockrem, Jessica, Appel, Hannah, et al.. "Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruins, Retrofit, and Risk." Science, Technology & Human Values, (2015) Sage: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243915620017.
    Published Version
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243915620017
    Keyword
    development; environmental practices; futures; alternative life forms; markets/economies; More... politics; power; governance; space/place/scale dynamics Less...
    Type
    Journal article
    Publisher
    Sage
    Citable link to this page
    https://hdl.handle.net/1911/88453
    Rights
    This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher.
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    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map