Geography of Catastrophe

This workshop explored the disjunction between catastrophe and everyday life, and between futuristic techno-utopias and the uncontrollable nature of nuclear power. It compared environments where the internet is consumed as freely as water to those where even electricity or phone access is unavailable. Through examples such as the relationship between diaspora and media, burner phones and crime, North Korea and Twitter, and Kurdistan and mobile phones, the workshop examined what these stark disparities reveal about the contemporary world.