Infrastructural Power

Rodrigo Rodrigues-Silveira
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How do infrastructures shape our environment and condition our behavior? How can power be embedded into infrastructures? What is the role of interfaces, protocols, and standards in the exercise of power? This podcast is part of the course "Comparative Public Policy" of the Master's in Political Science at the University of Salamanca. This podcast was created using my class notes, selected bibliographical references, and Google Gemini for the podcast script and the voices.

Episodes

  1. Jan 25

    Infrastructural Violence

    What if the bridges, apps, and city grids we use every day weren't just neutral tools, but silent participants in violence? In the series finale of Infrastructural Power, Rick and Rachael tackle the darkest side of the built world: Infrastructural Violence. Drawing on the works of Giorgio Agamben, Achille Mbembe, and Eyal Weizman, we explore how systems can embody harm by design, implementation, or strategic neglect. We dive into the chilling concepts of "bare life" and "death worlds," examine how borders act as dynamic technopolitical filters, and reveal why logistics is the secret supply chain behind every mass atrocity. We also bring the conversation into the 21st century to discuss "digital transnational repression" and the rise of "algorithms of inequality." Finally, we look at Forensic Architecture—a revolutionary method of using the physical world to testify against those in power. How do we challenge power when it is woven into the very fabric of our lives? Join us for this sobering and vital conclusion to the series.

    Infrastructural Violence

  2. Jan 25

    Digital Bureaucratic Infrastructures

    We were promised that the digital revolution would kill red tape, but the truth is far more complex. In this episode of Infrastructural Power, Rick and Rachael peel back the "user-friendly" curtain to reveal the rise of Digital Administrative Infrastructures. We explore how Big Data and bureaucracy have converged to create a "seamless" world where control is hidden in the code. From James C. Scott’s concept of "state legibility" to modern "Digital Taylorism" in the gig economy, we discuss how algorithms have become the new bureaucrats. We’ll dive into the three mechanisms of digital control—automation, coercive formatting, and algorithmic normalization—and examine the chilling implications of China’s Social Credit System. Are we losing our "unique individual spark" to the pursuit of perfect algorithmic order? Join us as we discuss how to reclaim "technical citizenship" and start seeing like a citizen in an age of invisible infrastructure.

    Digital Bureaucratic Infrastructures

  3. Jan 25

    Interfaces and Power

    Think your phone is just a neutral tool? Think again. In this episode of Infrastructural Power, Rick and Rachael go beneath the glass to explore the interface as a dynamic, invisible force that shapes our habits, our language, and our very sense of self. Moving beyond "buttons and screens," we dive into the "Hook Model" of digital habit formation and the chilling "Addiction by Design" strategies used in the gambling industry to keep users in "the zone." We also discuss the philosophy of digital boredom, the rise of the "data proxy," and how the "Meta-interface" of the cloud is effectively scripting our physical reality. Join us as we ask the ultimate question: In the co-evolution of humans and machines, who is really designing whom?

    Interfaces and Power

  4. 07/10/2025

    Infrastructurally Dense Environments

    What if infrastructures weren't just support systems, but tools of control? In this episode, we explore how infrastructures—from urban layouts to virtual worlds—become so embedded in our lives that we stop noticing them. We look at how they shape and govern our environments, subtly directing our behavior. We also examine megacities as extreme cases of infrastructural saturation, with the cyberpunk city as their most vivid fictional representation. 🎧 A journey into the hidden architecture of everyday life, where the artificial becomes natural.

    Infrastructurally Dense Environments

  5. 06/30/2025

    Infrastructural Legibility

    How is power built through the invisible? In this episode, we explore how maps, censuses, standards, and protocols not only organize the world but also make it legible for governance and control. From “technologies of formatting” that shape infrastructures to metadata that records even our most subconscious interactions, we delve into the technical foundations of infrastructural power. What if tomorrow’s history were written in metadata? Join us on a visual and conceptual journey from Piranesi to Escher, from Habitat 67 to the dystopian streets of Night City. 📌 Topics: standards, protocols, maps and grids, metadata and memory.

    Infrastructural Legibility

  6. 06/17/2025

    The Aesthetics of Infrastructures

    How do we experience infrastructures in our daily lives? How are they designed and what aspects are shown, and what others are hidden from our perception? How do their creation and maintenance involve narratives about either a utopian or dystopian future? The second session deals with the aesthetics related to infrastructures. It will be assessed through the analysis of the way our everyday life experiences involving them are mediated by design choices and narratives attached to their construction. On the one hand, we address the debate on how certain features are made visible while others are carefully hidden. On the other hand, we inquire into the discourses associated with infras- tructures granting them meanings and expectations that exceed their functionality. These representations can be utopian, picturing them as a way of progress and civilization, or a dark dystopian future where ecological apocalypse goes hand in hand with greedy corporations and tech-enhanced dictatorships. Topics • Infrastructures as poietic socio-technical systems • Infrastructural staging and concealment • Strategies of Aesthetic Assemblage

    The Aesthetics of Infrastructures

  7. 05/30/2025

    Power Enabling Architectures

    Why can we consider infrastructures as "power enabling architectures"? How does power manifest itself via sociotechnical structures? When embedded into technology, does it present distinctive features when compared to other types of domination? Is it possible to design ethics into infrastructures? The first episode introduces the overall subject of the course: the interplay between infrastructure and power. The core argument is straightforward: infrastructures enable a unique form of control fundamentally different from tradition, violence, or rational-legal rule. We employ the term "power-enabling architectures" here to grasp the organizational dimension of power that becomes visible when infrastructures entangle with technology through carefully designed coordination efforts and strategies. In this regard, Michael Mann’s notion of infrastructural power constitutes a unique form of power where architectures arranging interchangeable components (technologies, protocols, practices, and discourses) play a crucial role in controlling and modifying behavior.

    Power Enabling Architectures
  • 7 Episodes

About

How do infrastructures shape our environment and condition our behavior? How can power be embedded into infrastructures? What is the role of interfaces, protocols, and standards in the exercise of power? This podcast is part of the course "Comparative Public Policy" of the Master's in Political Science at the University of Salamanca. This podcast was created using my class notes, selected bibliographical references, and Google Gemini for the podcast script and the voices.

Information

  • Creator
    Rodrigo Rodrigues-Silveira
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rodrigo Rodrigues-Silveira
  • Show Website
    Infrastructural Power