New technologies have long been expected to solve social problems. In the 19th century, the telegraph was sold as a way to end war by reducing misunderstanding between nations. Today we are launching Techno-Optimism Archive, which collects historical press materials documenting old tech promises

New paper in @politicalgeography.bsky.social 🚨 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... I show how authoritarianism not only erodes civil and political rights, but undermines the organisations designed to protect those rights and hold state and corporate actors accountable 1/3

Pursuing accountability under authoritarian rule: Thailand's National Human Rights Commission and community struggles for justice

Rising authoritarianism in Southeast Asia and globally underscores the need for geographers to critically interrogate this concept, its uneven effects…

sciencedirect.com

Visiting Ngara Please like, share, follow, and reply. What do you think about this? #news https://africasacountry.com/2026/02/visiting-ngara

New Special Issue with the free-to-read editorial 'Under construction – towards critical perspectives on infrastructuring and infrastructured labour in Africa', guest edited by Theo Aalders, Prince Guma, Evelyne Owino & Dr Gideon Tups. doi.org/10.1080/2162...

Thanks to @drxdunlap.bsky.social and @theobromin.bsky.social for the editorial input, and Human Geography for publishing

Hey #geosky kindly share this CfP for this years RGS-IBG conference 🙂 @theobromin.bsky.social and myself are hosting a session on infrastructure, the politics of deception and breaking the future! Deadline for submission is February 20!

Auch Kerem Schamberger unterstützt das Jacobin-Crowdfunding. Uns fehlen nur noch wenige Hundert Euro, um Stufe 2 zu erreichen. Hier kannst du mitmachen: jacobin.de/2.0

Is infrastructure sabotage always a destructive act led by seditious individuals? no my new article in Human Geography studies Colombian public sector workers ‘breaking’ infrastructure to oppose privatization in 1992, and argues sabotage can reshape policies, politicize society & more

Our Intervention on the limitation of free speech at German Universities, based on experiences with organising pro-Palestinian events. gh.copernicus.org/articles/80/...

If you only read one of this trio, make it Life After Cars by @brooklynspoke.bsky.social & @sgoodyear.bsky.social. It’s the most accessible and informative, as well as the most practical.

Call for Abstracts - AAG 2026 | SF Deadline: October 23rd Join my Panel at next year's AAG conference on "Infrastructure Monsters and the Specter of Sabotage". We talkin' horror stories, queer geography, ghosts, Marx' specters, ruination, sabotage, and much more! @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky

What is the history of member-driven change in the AAG? Our archival research has shown that member-driven political activity has been common in AAG's history, including struggles around the Equal Rights Amendment; the US funding of contras in Nicaragua; and nuclear proliferation and war.

American Goldfinch got at it in the sky above Seapowet Marsh in Tiverton, RI #bird #birdphotography #americangoldfinch #itsabirdeatbirdworld

Can sabotage be an act of care? A way to build the future? In our new @antipodeonline.bsky.social article, Eric Kioko & I introduce the Sabotage Matrix, a tool to rethink infrastructure sabotage as both destructive and constructive. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

In the wake of the LA fires, many have called for mutual aid—which is necessary. But as @sarahljaffe.bsky.social writes, there are limits to what these networks can do. The challenge is to build something big enough to support a society.

Organized Abandonment | Sarah Jaffe

In a time of escalating climate catastrophe, we need something other than paeans to resilience.

thebaffler.com

And this is why, conversely, my flavor of radical anti-militarism comes in the shape of a swaggering gym bro creatine'd up to the gills.

@lastpositivist.bsky.social · last yr.

A certain kinda person really thinks macho vibes are what make for military success, and so thinks liberal states are bad at war. But rationalised logistics and immense productive capacity are actually very good at winning wars and liberal capitalist societies can martial those well and quickly.

Es ist auffällig, dass Bellizisten genau diejenigen Dinge als verteidigungswert auflisten, die drohen, durch grenzenlose Aufrüstung verdrängt zu werden.

Lena Berger@lena4berger.bsky.social · last yr.

Unterschreibe jedes Wort dieses leidenschaftlichen Plädoyers von David Matei in Richtung Ole Nymoen: "Deutschland ist eine der erfolgreichsten Demokratien unserer Zeit. Deutschland ist es wert!" #hartaberfair 1/2

Irgendwie ein bisschen traurig wie Ole grade zum einzigen Vertreter einer eigentlich ziemlich verbreiteten und auch relativ unspektakulären Position wird. Und auch spannend wie die Gegenseite sich da lieber an ihm als Person abarbeitet als die Position mal ernst zu nehmen

New Publication! @arnerieber.bsky.social, Eric Kioko & @theobromin.bsky.social examine how stalled infrastructure projects shape local economies & aspirations. They explore the non-economy of anticipation & infrastructural violence in the case of the Thwake Dam. 📰 ➡️ crc-trr228.de/new-publicat...

New Publication: Infrastructural Promises and the Non-Economy of Anticipation - Lessons from the Thwake Dam - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228

In this article, Arne Rieber, Eric Kioko and Theo Aalders (Project C03 Green Futures) examine how the promises of large-scale infrastructure projects shape

crc-trr228.de

Looks interesting! As I sometimes say about large scale mining projects (& associated infrastructure), the first impact is the plan.

Journal of Political Ecology@jpoliticalecology.bsky.social · last yr.

Rieber, A., Kioko, E. M. & Aalders, T., (2025) “The non-economy of anticipation in the construction phase of large dams”, Journal of Political Ecology 32(1): 6117. doi.org/10.2458/jpe.... @changetanzania.bsky.social @arnerieber.bsky.social @pollenetwork.bsky.social

Rieber, A., Kioko, E. M. & Aalders, T., (2025) “The non-economy of anticipation in the construction phase of large dams”, Journal of Political Ecology 32(1): 6117. doi.org/10.2458/jpe.... @changetanzania.bsky.social @arnerieber.bsky.social @pollenetwork.bsky.social

Really happy to see our article in JPE! In it, we discuss the 'non-economy of anticipation', a double vision in the construction phase of infrastructure, where future promises collide with the actual realities of implementation. We show how this leads to apathy and infrastructural violence.

Journal of Political Ecology@jpoliticalecology.bsky.social · last yr.

Rieber, A., Kioko, E. M. & Aalders, T., (2025) “The non-economy of anticipation in the construction phase of large dams”, Journal of Political Ecology 32(1): 6117. doi.org/10.2458/jpe.... @changetanzania.bsky.social @arnerieber.bsky.social @pollenetwork.bsky.social

New Publication! @theobromin.bsky.social & Detlef Müller-Mahn explore how labor shapes future-making in East African infrastructure projects. 📰➡️https://crc-trr228.de/new-publication-how-labour-has-the-potential-to-make-marginalised-futures-visible-and-real/

New Publication: How Labour has the Potential to Make Marginalised Futures Visible and Real - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228

In this recent publication, researchers Theo Aalders and Detlef Müller-Mahn (Project C03 Green Futures) explore how labor shapes future-making in East African

crc-trr228.de

Keine Ausraster bei „Nius“ und Axel Springer. Kein 5-Punkte-Plan von Merz. Keine Forderung nach Gesetzesverschärfungen von Markus Söder. Kein Brennpunkt. Keine Sondersendung bei Markus Lanz. Die Tagesschau spricht von „Autofahrt“.

So, anyone wanna speculate how SPD and Greens will justify going into a coalition with Merz' CDU anyway? - "If we don't do it the AfD will" - "apart from the support from the AfD, the 5-point-plan isn't that bad in essence" - "I can fix him"

In their latest publication, our researchers @arnerieber.bsky.social & @theobromin.bsky.social alongside Kenn Munene look at how affected households navigate the state of uncertainty that is formed by threating images of displacement, in the context of the proposed High Grand Falls Dam in Kenya.

Arne Rieber@arnerieber.bsky.social · 2y ago

Our article in Futures is finally out! It took some time, but it was a lot quicker than the dam project we researched - one that was supposed to be fast-tracked. So, why being sassy about the promise of the dam being fast-tracked? Because it matters: shorturl.at/eq5HL @theobromin.bsky.social

-guy gets caught jerking it in his car -blames it on asylum seekers - pure EU vibes nltimes.nl/2025/01/08/g...

Groningen mayor forced to resign after claims he was caught masturbating in his car

Koen Schuiling was forced to resign as mayor of Groningen by the Minister of Interior Affairs Judith Uitermark, NOS reported. The ministry was set to suspend Schuilding if he did not announce his depa...

nltimes.nl

Our article in Futures is finally out! It took some time, but it was a lot quicker than the dam project we researched - one that was supposed to be fast-tracked. So, why being sassy about the promise of the dam being fast-tracked? Because it matters: shorturl.at/eq5HL @theobromin.bsky.social

Displaced futures or futures in displacement? Anticipations around the proposed High Grand Falls Dam in Kenya

At COP27, the Kenyan and UK governments signed a climate finance agreement to accelerate the implementation of the High Grand Falls mega-dam on Tana R…

shorturl.at

Recent article in @natureandspace.bsky.social: I examine long-proposed ‘amorphous’ dams & diversions in the Salween River Basin & show how speculation & rumour are deployed strategically by differently placed actors working towards project development or demise. Open access!

My New Year's resolution was to publish an article at "Territory, Politics, Governance" about infrastructure, labour, and future making - and I'm already done! @giubresearch.bsky.social #Geosky