Robert Marinov

Robert Marinov is a PhD student in Communication at Concordia University with an MA in Political Science from the University of Ottawa, where his thesis won the Commission on Graduate Studies in Humanities Thesis Prize. His research focuses on emerging forms of artificial intelligence and computer modelling/simulation platforms referred to as ‘Digital Twins’, exploring their implications for sustainability initiatives, governance, and democratic politics. His work has been published in journals including the Canadian Journal of Political Science (forthcoming), Communication Review, Politics & Policy, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. Robert is a member of the student-run Solar Media Collective (www.solar-media.net) and is participating in a research project exploring populist narratives in newspaper columnists’ coverage of energy/climate politics across Canada, the US, and the UK.  

Contact: robert.marinov@mail.concordia.ca

Projects

Copper Cities: Opening the ‘black box’ of smart city sustainability discourses 

With Isabelle Boucher 

Copper is not associated with any particular technology and yet is nearly ubiquitous in information, communication, and Internet of Things infrastructures, meaning that ‘smart’ or tech-driven approaches to urban governance imply a heavy increase in the extraction and refining of copper and other critical minerals. In this project, we ask what copper, as a highly-conductive medium, is conducive of, both materially and conceptually, within the smart city. Combining insights and methods from elemental media analysis, energy humanities, STS, and discourse analysis, we problematize the conflation of efficiency (an oft-cited ‘benefit’ of copper) and sustainability so often present in cybernetic imaginaries of ‘smart’ governance, while situating our analysis in the Quebec context and its long history of negative environmental and health impacts stemming from copper industries.  

Digital Twins and the Politics of Cyber-Physical Sustainability: Exploring power and knowledge at the dawn of Digital Transformation 

PhD Dissertation (in progress) 

Digital Twins – essentially digital ‘mirror images’ of physical objects, systems, infrastructures, or bodies using integrated sensors and 3D modelling – have seen rapid development and deployment across sectors in recent years, promising increased efficiencies and contributions to organizational, supply chain, and built environment sustainability. Indeed, some 50% of Canadian businesses polled claim to view Digital Twins as key to their sustainability agendas, while Canadian governments have embraced the emerging technology in earnest through funding and R&D mechanisms. However, the many issues surrounding privacy, surveillance, democratic accountability, and changes to the epistemologies underpinning governance that have arisen with Digital Twins’ underlying technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and diverse ‘smart city’ infrastructures appear to remain, if not be enhanced, with the deployment of Digital Twins. This research project uses discourse analysis and ethnographic methods to explore the governance implications of Digital Twins and their role in shaping environments into optimizable cyber-physical systems through tech- and data-intensive sustainability initiatives and policies.   

Mapping Climate Populism within Newspaper Columnist Discourses: A comparative study of Canada, the US, and the UK 

With Dr. Paul Saurette, Dr. Shane Gunster, and Dr. Matthew Paterson  

This project uses mixed-method discourse analysis to investigate twelve years’ worth of newspaper columnists’ discourses on climate and energy politics across Canada, the US, and the UK. It primarily explores the use of populist narrative strategies to frame or characterize the political landscape and specific climate/energy policy questions, and to justify authors’ support or critique of climate action. Other areas of interest include exploring the dynamics of climate denialism, the use of emotional framing and appeals, and the ways in which technology is framed as a solution or substitute for other substantive climate actions/policies. 

Activities

Situated Solar Relations: Rethinking Scale for the Renewable Energy Age, A Symposium hosted by the Solar Media Collective  

As a member of the Solar Media Collective I helped plan and host the Situated Solar Relations symposium, which took place at Concordia’s Next-Generation Cities Institute in May 2023, convening academics, artists, students, and community members for a day of roundtable  discussions and workshops stimulating us to question and imagine what forms of social organization and tech design are possible—even ludic and enjoyable—when we abandon the fossil-fuel-powered assumption of energy abundance and work within the affordances and limits of the sun’s energy. Details can be found at www.solar-media.net. A forthcoming conference brief summarizing the day’s events and some of the major takeaways from discussions will be published in the Utopian Studies journal.    

Engaging Solarity – Public Engagement ‘Pop-Up’ Event & Book Launch 

As a member of the Solar Media Collective I helped organize and host a public-engagement activity around Concordia University’s downtown Montreal campus, wherein we partnered with the PedalBox Gallery to bring the Collective’s solar-powered web server to the public to engage in shared conversations about climate, technology, energy, and desired solar futures. The event was followed by a book launch for the After Oil Collective’s Solarities: Seeking Energy Justice at Concordia’s Milieux Institute, wherein participants discussed selections from the book and shared their diverse understandings and imaginaries of solarities and what a future of climate and energy justice would look like to them. Details about the events can be found at www.solar-media.net.