How does the material infrastructure of the Internet shape the ways we think, know, and imagine the future? On the occasion of researcher Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah’s residency at the Institute, a public conference followed by a roundtable discussion explores the geopolitical, technical, and epistemological stakes of digital futures.
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Institut d'études avancées de Nantes
Amphithéatre
Open to the public
Conference in English
Roundtable in English and French
No interpretation provided
A Lecture to Rethink Digital Futures
As part of her research residency at the Institute in December 2025 and January 2026, researcher Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah will give a public conference followed by a roundtable discussion, focusing on contemporary knowledge infrastructures and the digital futures they make possible—or impossible.
A specialist in the relationships between technologies, knowledge, and political imaginaries, Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah approaches the Internet not as an abstract or immaterial space, but through its physical foundations: submarine cables, networks, technical architectures, and engineering decisions. Her talk examines how these infrastructures profoundly shape today’s knowledge environment, influencing what can be thought, known, shared, or rendered invisible.
Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Angola, Mauritius, South Africa, as well as aboard the Leon Thevenin, Africa’s only vessel dedicated to repairing submarine fiber-optic cables, the conference will highlight the geopolitical and territorial dimensions—both terrestrial and oceanic—of digital networks. It will show how thousands of seemingly minor technical choices help structure the global circulation of knowledge.
This reflection raises central questions: What kinds of knowledge do we produce today? Who are they designed for? What digital futures do we wish to build, and for whom? And, crucially, how can we imagine and build more inclusive and equitable knowledge infrastructures?
A Roundtable to Continue the Conversation
Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah’s presentation will be followed by a roundtable discussion, moderated by Sophie Halart, opening up the conversation through additional perspectives on marine infrastructures, technologies, and ocean imaginaries.
The roundtable will bring together Manon Airaud, PhD in anthropology, whose doctoral research focused on the transformations of the seafaring profession within the French tropical tuna purse-seine fishery, and its connections to Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). In dialogue with fisheries science, her work examines changes in knowledge, labour relations, and the socio-technical arrangements at play in industrial fisheries. By considering FADs as non-human actors and objects of controversy, her research explores the links between technological developments, work organisation, representations of the seafaring profession, and sustainability issues. She will offer a valuable perspective on the methodological, material, and imaginative dimensions of marine environments, where technical practices and powerful narratives intertwine.
The discussion will also welcome Franck Schoefs, Director of the Institute for Sea and Coastal Studies (Institut Universitaire Mer et Littoral – IUML) at Nantes Université. A specialist in blue economies, he works closely on these issues in relation to African contexts and is also interested in the reliability of undersea cables as part of his scientific research. A science-fiction enthusiast, he is also a member of the Utopiales team, bringing to the roundtable a unique ability to connect foresight, technical infrastructures, and future imaginaries.
The talk and roundtable will be followed by a drink, a convivial moment to continue the conversation with the researcher and the speakers.
