Agenda

UNDERCURRENTS
Metabolic infrastructures of survival

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Workshop

How are humans and other living or nonliving beings, from frontline or vulnerable communities, experts and nation states to endangered and invasive species or extinct glaciers responding to the multifaceted environmental and ecological calamities facing our planet? How are these communities organizing the possibilities of survival, transformation, resistance, or flourishing?

This workshop, organized by three EASA networks – Energy Anthropology, Humans and Other Living Beings, and EnviroAnt –, explore the interconnectedness of energy systems and infrastructures, human and nonhuman agencies, and environmental dynamics. We invite contributions that engage with the entanglements of infrastructures, the metabolic flows they shape, and their impacts on both human and nonhuman lifeways in the context of the Anthropocene.

In addition, the workshop will feature field visits offering a grounded exploration of Venice’s intricate energy flows and ecological dynamics. We will travel to places such as the barene, an endangered ecological system vital for protecting Venice from tides, and the MOSE, a system of mobile barriers designed to manage flooding in the city. These visits will examine the entanglements of power dynamics, non-human adaptations, and their long-term impacts on the lagoon’s metabolic balance.

We also have an exciting list of confirmed participants: Anthropologists Cymene Howe and Dominic Boyer (Rice University), whose work includes the design of the world’s first glacier memorial, will join the workshop to contribute their insights. Jamie Cross (University of Glasgow) will also join the workshop and lead a field session on humidity and mold in Venice.

See the full program here :
google drive link

Organizing committee
Valentina Bonifacio, Umberto Cao, Cormac Cleary, Pauline Destree, Raghnild Freng Dale, Zeynep Oguz, Elena Stecca, Amelia Veitch.

Contact email: enviroant.network@gmail.com