Tag: environment

knowledge politics by Josh LepawskyAug 10, 20263:03 pm

A satellite image of a tailings pond. From this altitude the pond appears as a large white mass with a bright blue water feature at the center.

Key concept: Upstream

Data centers are becoming politically potent infrastructure. But what happens before the severs they house are even put in place?

knowledge politics by Josh LepawskyJul 31, 20269:52 am

This image is a collage with a colourful Japanese vintage landscape showing a mountain, hills, flowers and other plants and a small stream. There are 3 large black data servers placed in the bottom half of the image, with a cloud of black smoke emitting from them, partly obscuring the scenery.

Key concept: worlding

‘Worlding’ is a concept that offers an analytical foothold for researchers trying to understand how seemingly unlike elements of a broader situation do or don’t hang together.

data by Josh LepawskyJan 21, 20265:20 pm

An animated time lapse of landscape change between the years 1990 and 2025. The major change demonstrated is from farmland to data center.

A recipe for finding and mapping data centres

Geographers like me are really interested in understanding landscape changes. I’ve been doing some research on how the infrastructure of digital life (e.g., data centers or semiconductor fabs) is inscribed into real locations, what that […]

data by Josh LepawskyJan 14, 20263:06 pm

Defamiliarizing ‘Tech’

In our book, Discard Studies: wasting, systems, and power, Max Liborion and I write about defamiliarization and problem framing. in the context of the book we’re talking about how personal experience with garbage and waste […]

Repair by Josh LepawskyDec 15, 20253:57 pm

On Planned Obsolescence

Some months ago I was contacted by a journalist. Despite the interview, the story seems to have never run. Here’s what I was asked and how I responded. Journalist: Are products really designed to die […]

Discard Studies by Josh LepawskyMar 31, 20253:07 pm

Precaution, PFAS, and Pattern Collapse

In 1854 in the Soho district of London England a cholera outbreak was killing people. You probably know this story. Its usually told with a physician named John Snow in the role of hero who […]

Discard Studies by Josh LepawskyJan 28, 202510:01 am

Chemicals and Coalitions

Chemicals are an issue over which a powerful coalition disagree.

Discard Studies by Josh LepawskyJan 4, 20259:55 am

Is Net Positive Water a Thing?

Semiconductors are the foundational building blocks of all computing devices–whether that’s an AI model, a car, a phone, or a cheap greeting card that lights up and sings a song. And making semiconductors needs lots […]

Discard Studies by Josh LepawskyDec 12, 20249:01 am

What is a sacrifice zone?

The idea of “sacrifice zones” has been around since the 1970s. Former US President Richard Nixon may or may not have written a secret order permitting such zones in the US.

Discard Studies by Josh LepawskyDec 6, 20248:18 am

Sorting Out In Berlin

While in Berlin, Germany for HKW’s Participatory Planet project, myself and other participants visited an ALBA sorting facility on the east side of the city. The site sorts ~140,000 tonnes per year of waste metals, […]