| Summary: | "This book revisits many aspects of current social science theories, such as actor-network theory and the French school of science and technology studies, to test how the theories apply in a specific situation: in this case the role of Soviet era infrastructure in the city of Cherepovets in Russia, home of Russia's second biggest steel producer, Severstal. Using political philosophy to analyse the down-to-earth details of the real techno-scientific problems facing the world, the book examines the role of things -- and urban infrastructure in particular -- in political change. It considers how the city's infrastructure, including housing, ICT networks, the provision of public utilities of all kinds, has been transformed in recent years; examines the roles of different actors including the municipal authorities, and explores citizens' differing and sometimes contradictory images of their city. It includes a great deal of new thinking on how communities are built, how common action is initiated to provide public goods, and how the goods themselves -- physical things -- are a crucial driver of community action and community building, arguably more so than more abstract social and human forces"--Provided by publisher.
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