A review by robinwalter
How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World by Deb Chachra

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

In The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy there's a passage that reads as follows:
 

‘So this is it,’ said Arthur, ‘we are going to die.’
‘Yes,’ said Ford, ‘except . . . no! Wait a minute!’ ... ‘What’s this switch?...
‘No, I was only fooling,’...‘we are going to die after all.’ 

After reading this remarkable book about infrastructure (and ultrastructure), I was left with the feeling that the  author knows  many of us are in 'so this is it, we're going to die' mood, and wants to say 'wait, what's this switch?" This book is all about the MASSIVE switch that would be needed to avoid the fatal ending. As such it's fascinating, informative, thought-provoking, and challenging. 

The author is a fan of Douglas Adams' works, referencing his "SEP Field" gag in a perfectly apposite passage, and with a focus throughout the book that reminded me of Adams' Dirk Gently, whose primary focus was "the interconnectedness of all things" 

There'a A LOT of detailed explanation on the 'interconnectedness of all things' infrastructural in this book, but it's not remotely funny. Adams wrote science fiction comedy, Dr Chachra writes science, not fiction and writes, not comedy, but  to propose a way to avoid  tragedy. ESPECIALLY for those of us in the Global North (even those like me deep  in the geographical South), this book is often uncomfortable reading - or should be.  

Dr Chachra writes VERY well. I actually found the first 15-20% of the book a little slow to get going, but as I went further into the book, I realised that the beginning was crucial, setting the terms of reference, explaining the "how we got to here" before starting on the "how do we get OUT OF here?" bit at the end.  That opening section also serves to outlive very clearly how exceptionally well-qualified she  is to write about the subject. That she knows her topic very, very thoroughly can perhaps best be illustrated by a couple of examples illustrating her ability to distil the complex to its simple essence and communicate that essence clearly:

For all of human history, we’ve been living like energy is scarce and matter is infinite, when in fact the opposite is true

The idea of business as usual — extracting raw materials from the ground, turning them into products, and then dumping the waste as pollution — isn’t just politically challenging or morally reprehensible, it’s also fundamentally at odds with basic physics. (e.a.)

When this book was recommended to me on Mastodon, the person who recommended it tagged the author. Dr Chachra herself replied, saying " I really do think you'll appreciate my book HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS"  She was very, very, very much NOT WRONG.