Day Thirteen: Infrastructural Speculations
This video discusses Trash Work Futures, a design fiction inspired in ethnographies of resellers and secondhand workers. Borrowing the concept of Infrastructural Speculations by Richmond Wong, the fiction’s artifacts reflect political formations in an imagined economy where the main currency is Trash. The artifacts reflect tensions and challenges facing three fictional organizations, which represent apsects of the current systems of secondhand.
These fictions about systems can help us surface systemic challenges and imagine alternatives. They can also pave the way to enacting political strategies toward this transformation. What would alternative systems of secondhand look like?
Imagine a collective entity for secondhand economies (can be a business, a social media group, a foundation, a union, an institution, a party, a cult etc.), set in a future/past/present time of your choice. This entity is part of an alternative secondhand economy. Describe or draft an artifact associated to this entity, for example a logo, a post from their social media, their color palette, their “about me”. Think how it could envision alternative secondhand. I can help realize the visual idea if you want!
Infrastructural Speculations: "Infrastructural speculations place lifeworlds at the center of design concern, calling attention to the cultural, regulatory, environmental, and repair conditions that enable and surround particular future visions." - Richmond Y. Wong, et al.
Key Concepts
Trash Economy
an imagined political economy where production of new things has subsided, with reuse of past discard becoming an essential and widespread activity.
Trash Workers
Encompasses individuals and entities involved in the collection, processing, and resale of discarded materials from the fashion industry. This includes human resellers, manual laborers, and digital workers managing online platforms and inventory data. Corporations like RAGKYNETICS create technologies for automating and optimizing Trash Work. Additionally, non-human entities such as mold, bacteria, fungi, and genetically enhanced insects are employed in recycling processes. Trash Workers perform tasks ranging from commodity production to software and robotic system maintenance, advocating for fair labor practices and reflecting the evolving nature of the Trash Economy.
Organization of Trash Exporting and Importing Countries (OTEIC)
transnational regulatory body focused on the Trash Economy. It emerged from efforts by politicians, academics, and Trash Worker activists, initially from countries importing fashion trash. The organization regulates global trash trade, ensuring fair economic distribution and advocating for Trash Workers' rights. OTEIC also mediates disputes between Trash laborers and corporate marketplace platforms, focusing on issues such as listing fees and transparency in search algorithms. The OTEIC Fair-Trash-Labor global certification ensures corporations like RAGKYNETICS adhere to fair labor practices in the Trash Work sector.
Coalition of Trash Workers (CTW) is the largest and longest-enduring collective of Trash Workers, originating from online forums and social media. The coalition addresses common concerns of Trash Workers, advocating for better labor rights and regulations. CTW promotes lobbying efforts in coordination with OTEIC and corporate actors to prioritize laborers' needs. It facilitates discussions on ethical and political issues, enabling actions like strikes and boycotts. CTW's diversity includes varying political projects, from advocating for technological adaptation to promoting localized actions and equitable redistribution of resources.
RAGKYNETICS is a B-Corporation that provides automation solutions for Trash Workers. It offers a range of products, including automated garment sorters, AI-supported teleoperated robot arms, and economy-line wearables. The company emphasizes collaborative and fair work between Trash Workers in different geographies. RAGKYNETICS also develops biological and animal labor solutions, such as "Automated Composting" using genetically enhanced moth larvae for fabric breakdown. The inclusion of bio-labor is debated within CTW circles, reflecting ethical concerns and implications for human and non-human workers.
Ragkynetics catalog of automation solutions
Coalition of Trash Workers posters showing internal dissent
Part of the OTEIC style guide
This video discusses Trash Work Futures, a design fiction inspired in ethnographies of resellers and secondhand workers. Borrowing the concept of Infrastructural Speculations by Richmond Wong, the fiction’s artifacts reflect political formations in an imagined economy where the main currency is Trash. The artifacts reflect tensions and challenges facing three fictional organizations, which represent apsects of the current systems of secondhand.
These fictions about systems can help us surface systemic challenges and imagine alternatives. They can also pave the way to enacting political strategies toward this transformation. What would alternative systems of secondhand look like?
Imagine a collective entity for secondhand economies (can be a business, a social media group, a foundation, a union, an institution, a party, a cult etc.), set in a future/past/present time of your choice. This entity is part of an alternative secondhand economy. Describe or draft an artifact associated to this entity, for example a logo, a post from their social media, their color palette, their “about me”. Think how it could envision alternative secondhand. I can help realize the visual idea if you want!
Infrastructural Speculations: "Infrastructural speculations place lifeworlds at the center of design concern, calling attention to the cultural, regulatory, environmental, and repair conditions that enable and surround particular future visions." - Richmond Y. Wong, et al.
These fictions about systems can help us surface systemic challenges and imagine alternatives. They can also pave the way to enacting political strategies toward this transformation. What would alternative systems of secondhand look like?
Imagine a collective entity for secondhand economies (can be a business, a social media group, a foundation, a union, an institution, a party, a cult etc.), set in a future/past/present time of your choice. This entity is part of an alternative secondhand economy. Describe or draft an artifact associated to this entity, for example a logo, a post from their social media, their color palette, their “about me”. Think how it could envision alternative secondhand. I can help realize the visual idea if you want!
Infrastructural Speculations: "Infrastructural speculations place lifeworlds at the center of design concern, calling attention to the cultural, regulatory, environmental, and repair conditions that enable and surround particular future visions." - Richmond Y. Wong, et al.
Key Concepts
Trash Economy
an imagined political economy where production of new things has subsided, with reuse of past discard becoming an essential and widespread activity.
Trash Workers
Encompasses individuals and entities involved in the collection, processing, and resale of discarded materials from the fashion industry. This includes human resellers, manual laborers, and digital workers managing online platforms and inventory data. Corporations like RAGKYNETICS create technologies for automating and optimizing Trash Work. Additionally, non-human entities such as mold, bacteria, fungi, and genetically enhanced insects are employed in recycling processes. Trash Workers perform tasks ranging from commodity production to software and robotic system maintenance, advocating for fair labor practices and reflecting the evolving nature of the Trash Economy.
Organization of Trash Exporting and Importing Countries (OTEIC)
transnational regulatory body focused on the Trash Economy. It emerged from efforts by politicians, academics, and Trash Worker activists, initially from countries importing fashion trash. The organization regulates global trash trade, ensuring fair economic distribution and advocating for Trash Workers' rights. OTEIC also mediates disputes between Trash laborers and corporate marketplace platforms, focusing on issues such as listing fees and transparency in search algorithms. The OTEIC Fair-Trash-Labor global certification ensures corporations like RAGKYNETICS adhere to fair labor practices in the Trash Work sector.
Coalition of Trash Workers (CTW) is the largest and longest-enduring collective of Trash Workers, originating from online forums and social media. The coalition addresses common concerns of Trash Workers, advocating for better labor rights and regulations. CTW promotes lobbying efforts in coordination with OTEIC and corporate actors to prioritize laborers' needs. It facilitates discussions on ethical and political issues, enabling actions like strikes and boycotts. CTW's diversity includes varying political projects, from advocating for technological adaptation to promoting localized actions and equitable redistribution of resources.
RAGKYNETICS is a B-Corporation that provides automation solutions for Trash Workers. It offers a range of products, including automated garment sorters, AI-supported teleoperated robot arms, and economy-line wearables. The company emphasizes collaborative and fair work between Trash Workers in different geographies. RAGKYNETICS also develops biological and animal labor solutions, such as "Automated Composting" using genetically enhanced moth larvae for fabric breakdown. The inclusion of bio-labor is debated within CTW circles, reflecting ethical concerns and implications for human and non-human workers.
Trash Economy
an imagined political economy where production of new things has subsided, with reuse of past discard becoming an essential and widespread activity.
Trash Workers
Encompasses individuals and entities involved in the collection, processing, and resale of discarded materials from the fashion industry. This includes human resellers, manual laborers, and digital workers managing online platforms and inventory data. Corporations like RAGKYNETICS create technologies for automating and optimizing Trash Work. Additionally, non-human entities such as mold, bacteria, fungi, and genetically enhanced insects are employed in recycling processes. Trash Workers perform tasks ranging from commodity production to software and robotic system maintenance, advocating for fair labor practices and reflecting the evolving nature of the Trash Economy.
Organization of Trash Exporting and Importing Countries (OTEIC)
transnational regulatory body focused on the Trash Economy. It emerged from efforts by politicians, academics, and Trash Worker activists, initially from countries importing fashion trash. The organization regulates global trash trade, ensuring fair economic distribution and advocating for Trash Workers' rights. OTEIC also mediates disputes between Trash laborers and corporate marketplace platforms, focusing on issues such as listing fees and transparency in search algorithms. The OTEIC Fair-Trash-Labor global certification ensures corporations like RAGKYNETICS adhere to fair labor practices in the Trash Work sector.
Coalition of Trash Workers (CTW) is the largest and longest-enduring collective of Trash Workers, originating from online forums and social media. The coalition addresses common concerns of Trash Workers, advocating for better labor rights and regulations. CTW promotes lobbying efforts in coordination with OTEIC and corporate actors to prioritize laborers' needs. It facilitates discussions on ethical and political issues, enabling actions like strikes and boycotts. CTW's diversity includes varying political projects, from advocating for technological adaptation to promoting localized actions and equitable redistribution of resources.
RAGKYNETICS is a B-Corporation that provides automation solutions for Trash Workers. It offers a range of products, including automated garment sorters, AI-supported teleoperated robot arms, and economy-line wearables. The company emphasizes collaborative and fair work between Trash Workers in different geographies. RAGKYNETICS also develops biological and animal labor solutions, such as "Automated Composting" using genetically enhanced moth larvae for fabric breakdown. The inclusion of bio-labor is debated within CTW circles, reflecting ethical concerns and implications for human and non-human workers.
Ragkynetics catalog of automation solutions
Coalition of Trash Workers posters showing internal dissent
Part of the OTEIC style guide