Johannes Fehrle and Anna Saave have presented an article at the 21st Annual Historical Materialism London Conference 2024.<\/p>\n
Abstract of the article:<\/p>\n
Technology (Foster and Clarke 2020) and labor (Barca 2019) serve as crucial mediators in the metabolism between human communities and the natural environment. To date, labor and technology mediate society-nature-metabolisms (Pineault 2022, Becker\/Jahn 2006) along dominant imaginaries and structures, such as fossil capital (Malm 2016), the modern\/colonial gender system (Lugones 2007), and ecological modernization (Kern 2019) \u2013 with outcomes that are both unsustainable and unjust. In response, we not only examine the pivotal roles of technology and labor in shaping the societal relations with nature, but also ask how these mediators can be influenced in ways that will lead to more sustainable and equitable futures: (How) can we use design and planning in order to transform societal relations to nature? Our focus lies on exploring mechanisms for steering these mediators towards enabling more sustainable and equitable socio-economic systems. We will pay particular attention to technological innovation processes, environmental and spatial planning, and new approaches to work. The overarching question is: Has \u2018sustainability by design\u2019 become possible through changes in the mediating functions of technology and labor?<\/p>\n
To answer this question we will examine if and how we can achieve such transformative designs. While technological innovation has long been hailed as the primary driver of change, by e.g. ecomodernists, we ask in how far we can steer technological innovation towards sustainable ends within the current political economic regime. Similarly, class struggles and demographic shifts have historically shaped labor relations. But how believable are promises of deliberate planning for new forms of work in order to foster greater sustainability and social justice? Synthesizing discussions about labor and technology in light of the current political economic regime and its hold on these mediators is crucial when beginning to trace pathways towards postcapitalist futures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Johannes Fehrle and Anna Saave have presented an article at the 21st Annual Historical Materialism London Conference 2024. Abstract of the article: Technology (Foster and Clarke 2020) and labor (Barca…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[39],"yoast_head":"\n