Making Soil Count: Digital Translations of Soil and Its Value

This paper critically examines the EU’s “Soil Deal for Europe” through a feminist Science and Technology Studies (STS) lens through the exploration of how digital tools such as the EU soil dashboard and Living Labs shape our understanding of soil health. We argue that current soil governance relies on technocratic, data-driven frameworks that obscure ecological complexity and marginalize embodied, local knowledge. By analyzing the sociotechnical assemblage of soil indicators, policy documents, and citizen science platforms, the authors reveal how soil is rendered legible for management but stripped of its relational and living dimensions. We advocate for a care-based, pluralistic approach to soil knowledge one that embraces uncertainty, centers more-than-human relationships, and reimagines soil not as a resource to be controlled but as a dynamic partner in ecological stewardship.

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