Field Notes on Repair
[excerpt]
Cultural theorist Lauren Berlant has defined infrastructure as the “living mediation of the lifeworld of structure,” arguing that “movement is what distinguishes infrastructure from institutions.” As a “living mediation,” infrastructure is like a viscous, alimentary fluid that binds structures in the social realm, holding the world together. While those structures may appear stable and unitary, it is the fluid, infra aspect of infrastructure — its place within or below structure as such — that allows for those structures’ eventual and necessary transformation.