On Feb 27th, we are visited by Tim Schütz, who has agreed to give a talk whilst he is in town. Tim is a PhD student at University of California Irvine’s Department of Anthropology. Join us either online and offline for an interesting discussion!

Abstract:
In the face of escalating environmental crises, digital infrastructures are becoming critical sites of struggle, mediating how environmental harm is documented, contested, and governed. My research examines how activists, researchers, and affected communities leverage digital tools to counter corporate practices and state neglect in the petrochemical industry. Based on three years of multi-sited ethnographic research in the United States, Taiwan, and Vietnam, my talk explores the development of the Formosa Plastics Global Archive, a digital knowledge commons that supports transnational environmental justice movements. I trace how data ideologies - assumptions about what counts as legitimate knowledge - shape activist strategies and how digital infrastructures can both enable and constrain efforts to make environmental injustices visible. By situating these initiatives within broader debates on digital sustainability and environmental governance, I argue that digital infrastructures are not just technical artifacts but sites of political struggle that shape the possibilities for green transitions. I’ll share insights I’ve gained building the Formosa Plastics Global Archive, while also helping develop the Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography (PECE), an open source platform designed by and for qualitative researchers.

Where? 2A08 and online (go to ccit.itu.dk/seminar-series for the teams link)

Photo credits: Nick Fewings