🔗 Pipes, Power, and Policy: Why Sewerage Systems Reveal More Than We Think 

Urban infrastructure might seem like a matter of concrete and steel, but it’s also made of ideas—about who we are, what we value, and how power flows. Take sewerage systems. At first glance, they’re just functional. But when we dig deeper, we find they reflect a much bigger story about politics, ideology, and the limits of democracy. 

In my research, I explore how sewerage systems—and the policies that shape them—function as what philosopher Michel Foucault called epistemic technologies. These are systems that not only do work in the world, but also shape how we understand the world. They make certain ways of thinking feel inevitable, and others impossible. 

The Invisible Machinery of Belief 

We don’t often question how infrastructure decisions get made. Sewer systems, for instance, are rarely challenged once installed, even when better options exist. That’s partly because they embody a mindset Foucault called the “Modern episteme”—a way of thinking that prioritizes control, order, and invisibility. We forget that other ways of designing urban life are even possible. 

But it’s not just the pipes that are hard to change. 

Policy Networks: Democracy’s Disguise? 

Modern governance is full of talk about inclusion and participation. Enter policy networks—supposed webs of decision-makers from both inside and outside government. On paper, these networks look open and collaborative. In practice, many are rooted in old habits of statecraft and power-hoarding. They often trace back to “iron triangles,” the tight-knit relationships between bureaucrats, politicians, and industry. 

So while we think we’ve moved toward more democratic policymaking, much of it is shaped by the same rigid structures as our outdated sewer systems. 

The Politics Beneath Our Feet 

This isn’t just theory. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, two real-life examples drive the point home: 

• Africville, a historically Black community, was denied basic sanitation and ultimately displaced. The lack of infrastructure wasn’t accidental—it was a deliberate outcome of policy decisions rooted in inequality. 

• The Halifax Harbour Cleanup Initiative (HHCI) shows how even efforts to “do better” can be limited. Despite the promise of public participation, the same old policy networks excluded voices and reinforced the status quo. 

These aren’t just local tragedies. They’re warnings about how systems—both technical and political—can become so entrenched that change becomes almost impossible. 

The Trap of Path Dependence 

A key concept in my research is path dependence—the idea that once we choose a path, especially a technological one, it becomes increasingly hard to deviate from it. Sewerage systems, like the policies that support them, tend to reproduce themselves. Even when better, fairer, or more ecological alternatives exist, they rarely get a chance. 

Worse, we mistake this rigidity for rationality. Neo-classical economics and modern policy sciences often reinforce the belief that our systems are efficient and logical—when in fact, they’re just deeply embedded in a specific way of thinking.

Imagining an Ecological Episteme 

What would it take to escape this trap? It’s not just about building greener infrastructure—it’s about shifting the very ideologies that shape our decisions. We need to recognize that both our policies and our pipes carry hidden values. Only by exposing and challenging these values can we start to build more democratic, inclusive, and ecologically sound futures. 

The first step is visibility. As Foucault suggested, the most powerful systems are the ones we no longer see. By making these systems visible again—by mapping their histories, their ideologies, and their impacts—we make change imaginable.