May 4, 2026: Presentation by Philipp Budka at the 24th STS Conference Graz
Philipp Budka will present new research at the STS Conference Graz 2026 examining how infrastructures are lived and governed in remote Canada. His presentation, titled “Infrastructural Sovereignty in Practice: Built Environment, Care, and Intervention in Remote Canada,” will be part of Session 32 on May 4, 2026, from 15:45 to 17:45 CEST at Das Weitzer Hotel in Graz, Austria.
Drawing on long-term ethnographic work with First Nations and northern communities in Ontario and Manitoba, Budka introduces infrastructural sovereignty as a way to understand how power, responsibility and autonomy are negotiated through everyday practices of care and intervention.
The presentation discusses two complementary cases. The first focuses on KO-KNET, which built and maintained community-controlled broadband infrastructure, and MyKnet.org (1998-2019), a digital service layered on top that supported communication, cultural expression, and kinship relations. The second examines his InfraNorth case study of Indigenous-led acquisition of key transport infrastructure by the Arctic Gateway Group.
The talk highlights how infrastructural sovereignty is not fixed but emerges through ongoing practices of maintenance, coordination, and collective responsibility.
For more information, visit the conference website.
