Digital technology refusal in environmental governance

Reading group organized by Millie Chapman @ ETH Zürich

Meetings: Thursdays, 12–1pm, SOL F1 (Zoom option available)

Digital technologies increasingly mediate how societies observe, interpret, and govern social and ecological systems. From planetary-scale environmental monitoring infrastructures to algorithmic decision tools, participation in digital systems is often treated as inevitable and desirable. Yet across domains we see growing practices of refusal: individuals opting out of platforms, communities resisting data extraction, institutions rejecting algorithmic authority, and states asserting data sovereignty. Rather than viewing these moments as barriers to innovation or "failures" of adoption, this reading group treats refusal as a central feature of contemporary socio-technical-environmental systems; a lens that reveals how power, legitimacy, and justice are embedded in digital infrastructures.

A central question running through the seminar is at what scales refusal operates. Is refusal primarily an individual act of non-use? or does it emerge collectively through social movements, professional communities, or coordinated non-participation? How does refusal manifest at institutional and governmental levels, for example through data governance rules, procurement decisions, or national restrictions on digital infrastructures? And when does refusal lead to fragmentation and exclusion, versus opening space for alternative technological and governance arrangements? In the second half of the semester, we turn to environmental and planetary data systems (biodiversity databases, remote sensing, AI-driven conservation, and climate monitoring) to examine how refusals at different scales are reshaping the governance of the digital biosphere. The reading group is for students interested in technology and society, environmental governance, data politics, and the future of collective action in an increasingly digital world.

Schedule & Modules

Note: This reading group is not a formal class with a fixed syllabus. Instead, it is designed as a collaborative, exploratory space in which the reading list and discussion themes will emerge iteratively from the interests and expertise of participants. The topic areas below provide an initial scaffold for the semester, but specific readings will be selected collectively as the group develops shared questions, identifies gaps in existing literature, and brings in cases or perspectives from participants’ own research domains.

Module 1: What is refusal? Concepts, histories, and methods

We begin by building a conceptual foundation for thinking about refusal in relation to technology. Readings introduce refusal, rejection, and non-use as analytically distinct from adoption, protest, or critique, and examine how these positions are theorized across human–computer interaction, technology studies, and political theory. Together, they help us move beyond individual “choice” to consider refusal as a practice that can operate across social, institutional, and political scales.

Satchell, C., & Dourish, P. (2009). Beyond the user: Use and non-use in HCI.
A foundational HCI paper arguing that non-use deserves as much analytical attention as use. The authors develop a typology of non-use—including active resistance, disenchantment, and disenfranchisement—that is especially useful for clarifying how refusal differs from absence, failure, or lack of access in digital systems.
Rama Murthy, S., & Mani, M. (2013). Discerning rejection of technology.
This paper explicitly frames technology rejection as distinct from technology acceptance, showing how rejection can emerge at individual, community, and state levels. It is particularly helpful for thinking about refusal beyond individual behavior, and for situating refusal within broader political and institutional contexts.
Bonus / skim:
Kahma, N., & Matschoss, K. (2017). The rejection of innovations? Rethinking technology diffusion and the non-use of smart energy services in Finland.
An empirical study from the energy domain illustrating how non-use and resistance persist even in sustainability-oriented technologies. The paper applies and extends concepts from the above readings, offering an early example of how refusal plays out in environmental and “green tech” contexts.

Module 2: Non-use, exit, and everyday digital resistance

This module focuses on refusal at the individual and micro-social scale. We explore non-use of digital technologies, practices of opting out, obfuscation, and everyday resistance to surveillance and platform participation. Key questions include who can afford to refuse, what costs refusal entails, and how digital systems are designed to minimize exit.

Module 3: Refusal, power, and digital infrastructures

Here we examine refusal as a response to infrastructural power. Readings investigate how platforms, data architectures, and algorithmic systems embed governance logics, extractive economies, and asymmetries of control. We analyze how refusal exposes otherwise invisible infrastructural politics, and how institutions and states enact refusal through data governance and regulatory decisions.

Module 4: Data, AI, and algorithmic authority

This module turns to refusal in contexts of datafication and algorithmic governance. We study resistance to data extraction, skepticism toward algorithmic decision-making, and emerging movements for data justice and AI accountability. Attention is given to refusal from within technology production, including worker resistance and alternative design practices.

Module 5: Collective and institutional refusal

Refusal is rarely only individual. This module examines collective refusals by communities, professional groups, social movements, and governments. We explore cases of data sovereignty, platform boycotts, institutional procurement refusals, and national data localization policies, asking when refusal produces alternative governance arrangements rather than exclusion.

Module 6: Environmental and planetary-scale refusal

The final module applies refusal frameworks to environmental and planetary data infrastructures. We examine biodiversity databases, remote sensing systems, AI-driven conservation tools, and climate monitoring regimes, focusing on resistance to digital environmental solutionism, Indigenous and local data sovereignty, and contested planetary knowledge systems. We conclude by asking how refusal is reshaping the governance of the emerging digital biosphere.