Topics in Anthropology

From streets to wifi signals, the electricity grid to pipes, infrastructures surround us and shape the society we inhabit. Whether it is brushing your teeth, checking your e-mail or taking the train, you use infrastructures regularly. Yet people pay little attention to them--until they break down. From the inconvenience of a late bus to deadly power outages or floods, infrastructures are vital. This seminar is an anthropological study of infrastructure's role in governance, livelihood, sociality, & cultural meaning in urban life. By looking at different forms of and experiences with infrastructure around the world, we discuss varying understandings of infrastructure, theorize what it does, and analyze its politics. We draw from anthropology, political theory, and science & technology studies to think about what studying infrastructure entails; therafter, the course engages with infrastructure in the Global South to rethink what infrastructure is and does.
Course Attributes: EN S; AS SSC; FA SSC

Topics in Anthropology

ANTHROPOLOGY 4101

Section 01