Sensing Environmental Networks 

Comprising small self-powered devices, sensor networks are often used to record conditions on the physical environment to enable a range of activities in telecommunications, labor, and security. The papers in this panel further this discussion to examine how sensor networks interface with environmental politics. For what purpose are sensor networks integrated into the environment? How do the scientific and technological dimensions of sensor networks inform the way we understand changes in the environment (e.g. global warming)? Can sensor networks lead to environmental justice or do they further state violence? Alternatively, how might environmental networks (e.g. mycelium) become conscripted into state surveillance projects? By addressing the conflicting political and aesthetic zones between sensor networks and environments, we seek to clarify how technology and science become wedded to global practices of capital domination.

If interested in joining, please send an abstract to Gary Kafer (gkafer@uchicago.edu) and Henry Osman (henry_osman@brown.edu).  Deadline: August 23.

SCMS 2025 is in Chicago, IL from Thursday, April 3—Sunday, April 6, 2025