The Image at the End of the World: Communities of practice redefining technology on a damaged Earth

(Inter)governmental efforts to deal with the climate crisis are all based on a definition of technology that makes the consolidation of two incompatible aims—economic growth and environmental sustainability—seem possible. Technology is supposed to make the decoupling of economic growth from environmental depletion a reality. Technology has become a magic word granting us a way out of the climate crisis without changing anything fundamental. This specific definition of the word is invested with a strong—and well financed—drive to keep existing power structures in place. However, the paradox at the heart of this reading of technology has not gone unnoticed. The definition of the word technology in the climate crisis has become brittle; the mismatch with lived experience and material practices makes the word ‘uninhabitable’; giving rise to many new terms associated with communities of practice which give voice and shape to different definitions and roles for technology on a damaged Earth: permacomputing, computing within limits, collapse informatics, salvage computing, slow tech, redundant technology, low-tech, feminist technology, convivial computing, disability driven development and more. Building on Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society by Raymond Williams (1976), I describe practices giving expression to different definitions of a single keyword, technology, by quite literally seizing control over the means of communication as the means of production. These communities of practice are not only taking control over the elements of network technology within their reach, they are also actively shaping the vocabulary used to discuss this. This dissertation aims to bring understanding of how the language around these infrastructures expresses this change, bringing the means of production in line withtheinterests of practitioners. Each practice, when situated historically, can teach us something about their transformative character and potential, which together constitute a low theory about questions emergingfromtheseprojects, fostering experimental togetherness, a pragmatic learning of what works and how (Graeber, 2004; Stengers, 2005). Exploring the contested meaning of technology—a word which holds a pivotal position in debates about ways to tackle climate change—can provide important insight into how this position emerged and support the experimental performing of other worlds that demonstrate computing otherwise is possible and doesn’t only consist of dreams, but also tests ideas in code, hardware and community organisation.