Infrastructures of Power: Materialities of Tech Autonomy in a World of Weaponised Interdependence
This panel is for the European International Studies Association’s Pan-European Conference on International Relations (EISA-PEC 2026)
The Conference will be held on 1-4 September 2026, in Lisbon, Portugal.
More Information on EISA-PEC can be found at: https://eisa-net.org/abstract-submission-guidelines-pec-2026/
Panel Chair: Kunhan Li (Aalto University)
Discussant: Stefka Schmid (Aalto University)
Panel Theme
Technological autonomy has become a central concern in contemporary international political economy and international relations, involving digital sovereignty, strategic autonomy, security, and resilience. Building on existing scholarship, this panel advocates for a materialist orientation of the technological autonomy debate. Technological autonomy is not only constituted through regulations or standards but also embedded in and built upon physical infrastructures in various domains (e.g. data centres, semiconductor fabrication facilities, satellite systems). These systems generate durable patterns of dependence, vulnerability, and leverage.
This panel explores the dynamics of tech autonomy, building on the literature on weaponised interdependence. Specifically, we focus on the physicality of interdependent networks, emphasising how strategic chokepoints are anchored in ownership structures, contractual arrangements, infrastructural siting, and control over physical assets. Hence, this approach situates strategies of autonomy and weaponisation within broader transformations in political economy and state authority, drawing on scholarship on infrastructural power, security, and state-firm relationships.
We invite contributions that examine how technological autonomy has materialised across technological domains and different geopolitical contexts within global infrastructure networks. We especially welcome engagements with US-China strategic competition, European autonomy, and trends in emerging economies. Overall, this panel contributes to IR scholarship by exploring frameworks for analysing the materialities of technological autonomy from weaponised interdependencies in critical infrastructures.
Keywords: infrastructure, sovereignty, artificial intelligence, digitalization, cloud service, space.
Indicative Questions
- How is technological autonomy materially produced?
- What are the structural limits of tech autonomy in deeply interdependent production networks?
- How do state actors (re-)negotiate autonomy in interaction with tech companies?
- How does the quest for tech autonomy change the structure of technological interdependence and networks itself?
- What are the convergences and tensions between policies across different technological domains in relation to infrastructures?
If you are interested in becoming a panellist, please send an abstract to Kunhan Li (kunhan.li@aalto.fi) by the 12th of February 2026, with a word limit of 1,800 characters (including spaces).