Max Hirsh and Till Mostowlansky, "Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia" (U Hawaii Press, 2022)

Sep 24, 2024

Max Hirsh, an expert in international infrastructure, and Till Mostowlansky, a leading authority on infrastructure's impact on Asia, discuss the seismic shift of global infrastructure focus toward Asia. They explore how new developments reshape economies and societies, emphasizing case studies from diverse regions. The duo highlights the interplay between infrastructure, climate change, and China's superpower status while advocating for interdisciplinary approaches to understand cultural impacts. Their insights merge social science with design, revealing how infrastructure redefines modern Asian landscapes.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Infrastructure and Cultural Dynamics in Asia

02:19 • 15min

Shifting Infrastructure Paradigms in Asia

17:30 • 10min

Understanding Infrastructure Through Materiality, Territory, and Networks

27:35 • 2min

Infrastructure and Borders in High Asia

29:29 • 11min

The Symbolism of Airports in China's Urban Development

40:35 • 4min

Aviation and Infrastructure: Global Influences in China

44:59 • 17min

In the twenty-first century, infrastructure has undergone a seismic shift from West to East. Once concentrated in Europe and North America, global infrastructure production today is focused squarely on Asia. Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia (U Hawaii Press, 2022) investigates the deeper implications of that pivot to the East. Written by leading international infrastructure experts, it demonstrates how new roads, airports, pipelines, and cables are changing Asian economies, societies, and geopolitics—from the Bosporus to Beijing, and from Indonesia to the Arctic. Ten tightly interwoven case studies powerfully illustrate infrastructure’s leading role in three global paradigm shifts: climate change, digitalization, and China’s emergence as a superpower.

Combining social science methods with mapping techniques from the design professions, Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia establishes a dialogue between academic research on infrastructure and the professional insights of those responsible for infrastructure’s planning, production, and operation. By applying that mixed method to transport, energy, telecommunication, and resource extraction projects across Asia, the book synthesizes research on infrastructure from six academic fields, while making those insights accessible to a wider audience of students, professionals, and the general public.

Max Hirsh is managing director of the Airport City Academy and a research fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder. He holds a PhD in urban planning from Harvard and is the author of Airport Urbanism: Infrastructure and Mobility in Asia. Max's research investigates the relationship between air travel and urban form.

Till Mostowlansky is a Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the Geneva Graduate Institute and the Principal Investigator of the Swiss National Science Foundation funded project “Quiet Aid: Service and Salvation in the Balkans-to-Bengal-Complex”. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics.

Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here.

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