Infrastructural Cascades: A New Approach to Anthropocene Ecological Change

Zachary Adam Caple

Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

zcaple@cas.au.dk

Link to onsite registration: https://duo.dr13.cnrs.fr/public/evenement/index

Link to seminar:

In this talk, I describe a new approach for charting Anthropocene ecological change: infrastructural cascade analysis. Much like the introduction of wolves into Yellowstone, the introduction of infrastructures into landscapes––roads, dams, fences, etc.––has ripple effects that alter ecosystems. An infrastructural cascade study has two basic components: 1) “upstream” analysis of an infrastructure’s historical emergence and 2) “downstream” attention to its ramifying ecological effects. I present two case studies. The first examines how the construction of a 300-km veterinary fence has led to mass die-offs of wildebeests and other migratory ungulates. The second explores how carcass dumping from industrial pig farms is transforming vulture lifeways in Spain.

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