Infrastructure and Agency in the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene and posthumanism are two concepts that interpret human agency in interaction with the environment differently. While the Anthropocene debate emphasizes the centrality of humans in their interaction with nature, posthumanism relativizes human agency in a world that is also shaped by animals or the material. The chapter proposes to combine both perspectives in a history of infrastructure in order to better understand the contingency and contradictory nature of human impact on the environment. Looking at Latin American dam-building as a case study, the text argues that infrastructures must be understood as material artifacts that have an agential impact on nature, adding uncertainty to human intentions and plans.