'Code/nature': Thinking on digital human-environment relations, affect and subjectivity

Keywords: digital geographies, affect, subjectivity, conservation, more-than-human, feminist digital natures
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 61

Abstract

Over the past few years, geographic scholarship about technology and the production of space and society has found renewed attention through ‘digital geographies’. Prior to this digital re-turn, a notable contribution to the field was Rob Kitchin and Martin Dodge's (2004; 2011) concept of code/space. It describes how “software-driven technologies” and sociospatial relations are mutually constituted. While this concept is more regularly applied for research in urban, labour, and human-centered contexts, it could support theorization in human-environment research too. In this paper, I consider how code/space might be used to theorize the affective dimensions and more-than-human subjectivities that emerge with/through various digital practices. The discussion features cases about mobile applications and citizen science, as well as social media and educational entertainment related to conservation. By exploring affect and subjectivity through code/nature, I aim to contribute to the emerging, generative conversations around Feminist Digital Natures that address the politics and implications of digitally mediated human-environment relations.