Previously we have become acquainted with a view on digital infrastructures that highlights their reparative and connective characteristics. In this track we will trace the term computational infrastructures, which forefronts how infrastructures are material systems that move all sorts of elements in the world.
Computational infrastructures are complex entities shaped by different technological, social, economical and political dimensions. As is the case with any type of infrastructure, they come with embedded values. Their specificities and configurations shape the possibilities and restrictions of the whole system, defining what can be built on top of them and what not. The logics of computational infrastructures are shaped by global capital, material components, political values, and in turn shape labour relations, environmental ecosystems, as well as the political economies in which they operate.
To formulate a more precise understanding of what computational infrastructures are, how they operate and what forms of harm they produce, we will introduce the work of Seda Gürses in this track.