Since 8 o’clock this morning [monday decembrer 13th, 2004], a group is occupying a Minatec’s building site’s crane, in order to interrupt the construction for a day. The occupiers, supported by demonstrators on the ground, have unrolled a banner against nanotechnologies (« here the industry of totalitarianism ») and distributed some tracts to the passers-by, calling them to join them fast.
Over with Minatec (before it starts)
…or why we’re climbing up Minatec’s cranes while they’re building it.
Minatec will be, provided nothing unexpected happens, Europe’s most important research, teaching and implementation center on nanotechnologies. It seems that most people are bound to ignore to some extent how much social and urban harms due to the existing Grenoble’s technopolis are bound to get worse: creation of an Isère Silicon Valley, fast increase of rents and trafic jams, soaring prices, mass arrivals of executives drawing away the poors to the suburbs… However, local authorities keep putting forward the fact that « this future european innovation center, designed by people involved in research and teaching, as well as local authorities, is already internationally famous1. » But, politically, socially, what does this Minatec project imply?
