Browsing by Author "Carraro, Valentina"

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    Grounding the digital: a comparison of Waze 'avoid dangerous areas' feature in Jerusalem, Rio de Janeiro and the US
    (2021) Carraro, Valentina
    This paper presents a comparative study of the Waze avoid areas (WADA) feature in Jerusalem, Rio de Janeiro, and the US. I argue that, through comparative approaches, geographers can 'ground' the digital, developing situated accounts of how emerging technologies work at different sites. Taking as a starting point the controversies raised by WADA, I address the following research questions: How does the feature work in the three research sites? What political problems does it raise? What are its effects? Drawing on 124 news articles, blog posts and forum threads in English, Arabic, Hebrew and Portuguese, the analysis complicates existing characterisations of similar apps as emblematic of the smart city's most oppressive characteristics, pointing at three themes: the relevance of local settings in the enactment of WADA, the interplay of different logics in its definition of danger, and the heterogeneity of public reactions to the app. More broadly, the study demonstrates that grounded comparative studies can decentre and enrich the scholarship on digital geographies, underscoring the contingency and ambivalence of digital technologies.
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    Undoing disaster colonialism: a pilot map of the pandemic's first wave in the Mapuche territories of Southern Chile
    (2022) Carraro, Valentina; Kelly, Sarah; Luis Vargas, Jose; Melillanca, Patricio; Miguel Valdes-Negroni, Jose
    Purpose The authors use media research and crowdsourced mapping to document how the first wave of the pandemic (April-August 2020) affected the Mapuche, focussing on seven categories of events: territorial control, spiritual defence, food sovereignty, traditional health practices, political violence, territorial needs and solidarity, and extractivist expansion. Design/methodology/approach Research on the effects of the pandemic on the Mapuche and their territories is lacking; the few existing studies focus on death and infection rates but overlook how the pandemic interacts with ongoing processes of extractivism, state violence and community resistance. The authors' pilot study addresses this gap through a map developed collaboratively by disaster scholars and Mapuche journalists. Findings The map provides a spatial and chronological overview of this period, highlighting the interconnections between the pandemic and neocolonialism. As examples, the authors focus on two phenomena: the creation of "health barriers" to ensure local territorial control and the state-supported expansion of extractive industries during the first months of the lockdown. Research limitations/implications The authors intersperse our account of the project with reflections on its limitations and, specifically, on how colonial formations shape the research. Decolonising disaster studies and disaster risk reduction practice, the authors argue, is an ongoing process, bound to be flawed and incomplete but nevertheless an urgent pursuit. Originality/value In making this argument, the paper responds to the Disaster Studies Manifesto that inspires this special issue, taking up its invitation to scholars to be more reflexive about their research practice and to frame their investigations through grounded perspectives.