Lifelines of Our Society

Dirk van Laak; foreword by Paul N. Edwards; translated by Erik Butler

Foreword vii
Paul N. Edwards
Preface to the English-Language Edition xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: As Long As It Keeps Working...1

I The Classical Era of Infrastructure
1 Public Works: The Nineteenth Century 21
2 Lifelines of Community: The Early Twentieth Century 47
3 The Measure of Modernity: The Late Twentieth Century 79

II Nodes of Infrastructural Debate
4 Public, Private, or Partnership? How Infrastructure is Organized 113
5 Prestige Projects: Symbolic Value and Failure 129
6 Crumbling Bridges: The Life Cycles of Infrastructures 143
7 Achilles' Heels: The Vulnerability of Large-Scale Networks 157
8 The Cold Persona: Users and Operators of Infrastructures 173
Conclusion: Down the Drain? 189

Notes 207
Bibliography 259
Index 311