“Politics, Valorization and Technology in the High-Tech Bioeconomy” with session on “Democratic Planning in the Anthropocene”

The event will take place online and in English.

The description is taken from the event organizer’s website:

To conclude the activities of the BioMaterialities research group, we warmly invite you to a one-day online workshop that brings together central themes of our collaborative research: technology, valorization, and politics in the context of the high-tech bioeconomy. In conversation with scholars who have inspired our work, this event offers a space for open, critical reflection on how our group’s research contributes to ongoing debates in political ecology, political economy, and science and technology studies.

The program is structured into three thematic sessions, each featuring two short presentations, a response by a discussant, and an open discussion with participants.

No registration is required. You can join the event directly via Zoom: https://hu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/64276821368

We look forward to your participation.

Program Overview

13:45–14:00
Welcome and Introduction
Miriam Boyer & Sarah Hackfort
“Technology, Valorization and Politics in the High-Tech Bioeconomy”

Session 1: Politics | Democratic Planning in the Anthropocene

14:00–15:30 CET

This session explores democratic economic planning as a vital response to the polycrises of the Anthropocene. It critically addresses the limitations of market-based bioeconomy strategies and examines how participatory planning might align economic activity with ecological boundaries and social needs.

14:00–14:15
Drew Pendergrass (Duke University)
“Every Cook Can Plan: Economic Democracy Against Catastrophe”

14:15–14:30
Johannes Fehrle (HU Berlin) & Anna Saave (University of Freiburg)
“Feminist and Eco-Marxist Politics for the Democratic Planning Debate”

14:30–14:45
Remarks: Marius Bickhardt (Sciences Po / Centre Marc Bloch)

14:45–15:30
Open discussion

Session 2: Valorization | Financialization, Venture Capital, and Start-Up Economies

16:00–17:30 CET

This session examines how venture capital and broader financial structures shape the high-tech bioeconomy. Focusing on start-ups and their entanglements with corporate and financial actors, the session explores how sustainability is reconfigured through valuation practices—and with what consequences.

16:00–16:15
Sarah Ruth Sippel (University of Münster)
“Techno-finance Fixes: Financializing Agri-Food Through Start-Ups and Venture Capital”

16:15–16:30
Cornelius Heimstädt (HU Berlin)
“Pitching Sustainability: Integrating Environmental Concerns into a Carrier of Venture Capitalization”

16:30–16:45
Remarks: Peter Feindt (HU Berlin)

16:45–17:30
Open discussion

Session 3: Technology | Why and How Should We Engage with the Materiality of Technology?

18:00–19:30 CET

Moving beyond artifact-centered analyses, this session focuses on the materiality of technological processes in economic systems. We explore critical approaches to modeling and interpreting these processes through theories of ecologically unequal exchange and input-output economics.

18:00–18:15
Alf Hornborg (Lund University)
“The Materiality of Trade and Development”

18:15–18:30
Miriam Boyer (HU Berlin) & Carlos López (El Colegio de México)
“Critically Assessing Technological Processes: A Multiscale Approach Using Input-Output Economics”

18:30–18:45
Remarks: Walther Zeug (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig)

18:45–19:30
Open discussion

19:30–19:45
Final Wrap-Up