Social geographies II: Robots

This report examines how social geographers are engaging with the questions that robots and robotic technologies provoke. First, it discusses Marxist analyses of machines and troubles the role that robots play in social production and reproduction. Second, robots as actors in assemblages of sociospatial relations are interrogated for their role in state violence. Third, the dynamic change brought about by smart cities and their algorithmic subjects is discussed. The concluding section is speculative, discussing robots and the ethics of care. This report asks social geographers to reimagine their social geographies in relation to the role of robots in everyday life.