For my PhD research, I am interested in understanding what kind of data capacities and data infrastructures are needed to support "the long game" of transnational environmental activism against petrochemical expansion in the US and East Asia. I study activist data practices, ideologies, and infrastructures – asking what "informated environmentalism" (Fortun 2004) has become almost 40 years after the passing of "right-to-know"legislation. Today, activists have begun to tackle all impact points of plastics production, from the manufacturing of basic petrochemicals to plastic garbage in the ocean. The need to address climate change impacts of petrochemicals (plastics as "the new coal") and negotiation of a global plastics treaty are in high relief. My empirical focus is on the Formosa Plastics Corporation – one of the world’s largest petrochemical companies – operating plants in Taiwan, Vietnam, Louisiana, and Texas. In each setting, activists have been documenting Formosa's long track record of environmental and human rights violations, and in light of the industry's expansion, have begun sharing data through transnational networks.
- What problems and challenges are community, environmental, and legal activists facing as a result of continuing expansion of petro-capitalism (associated with the shale gas boom especially)?
- What data practices, ideologies, and infrastructures are in play in contemporary plastics activism in different settings?
- How are contemporary plastics activists demonstrating new forms and ideals of civic knowledge – advancing what can be called “post-petro” civic knowledge?
- How can data practices and study designs in anthropology keep up with increasingly complex problems, supporting enhanced collaboration both among anthropologists and with the communities they study?