THE INVISIBLE TOPOGRAPHY OF POWER - ELECTROMAGNETIC-FIELDS, BODIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

This paper discusses how low frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) e mitted from power lines, computers and electrical appliances have beco me a form of environmental pollution. At the heart of this controversy is a growing public and scientific preoccupation with measuring EMF ' levels', quantifying EMF 'exposure', and calculating the EMF 'risk' to human health. Increasingly sophisticated measurement devices (dosimet ers) are offered on the market to 'detect' an invisible topography of 'field levels', 'non-sinusoidal wave forms', 'hot spots', 'peak intens ities' and 'high frequency transients'. We thus approach the represent ation, constitution and management of EMFs by considering how dosimete rs are used in epidemiological studies to construct EMF risks, and in particular environments (homes, schools, offices) to construct an invi sible topography. We argue that EMF measurements are not just represen tations of pollution, but also regulatory devices constitutive of the boundaries between individual bodies, social bodies and the environmen t.