Toxic Heritage: Socio-natural Landscapes of Extraction and Pollution in the Harz and Cornwall

• Antragstellerin: Professorin Dr. Tina Asmussen
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Wissenschaftsgeschichte
• Förderung: Förderung seit 2024
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 547562851

"Toxic Heritage" considers mining landscapes as tangible evidence of the profound and long-term human-induced transformations. The far-reaching environmental consequences of mining have been neglected in its heritage narratives, overshadowed by stories of technological and economic progress. The project will shift this focus by presenting toxic residues as an integral aspect of mining. It will do so by developing an interdisciplinary, cutting-edge conceptualization of mining heritage that is underpinned by an ecological standpoint. The Harz Mountains in Central Germany and Cornwall in Southwest England, both inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are the focus of this proposed project. Utilizing a combination of historical research, ethnographic fieldwork, digital mapping and modelling, creative practice, and curatorial practice, we will explore and communicate the far reaching environmental and social impacts of mining in these landscapes since the late medieval period. We will also unpack how these legacies continue to shape present-day identities and ecologies across both regions. The historical depth of our study, which extends from the pre-industrial period to the present, addresses an important research desideratum, as most research in historical, environmental and Anthropocene studies hardly look back beyond 19th century developments and practices. In contrast to the extensive studies on mining history that concentrate on economic and technological aspects, we adopt a holistic perspective towards mining landscapes, their resources, and their material residues. We perceive mining landscapes as socio-natural entities consisting of material, social and symbolic dimensions. This viewpoint admits a comprehensive, non-teleological view of mining as heritage. Consequently, the project challenges dualistic understandings of nature and culture and explores intersections between social, economic, and political systems, and the biophysical systems of the planet. In this respect, the project aligns with other cutting-edge approaches that, in response to the challenges of the Anthropocene, attempt to explore and develop non-binary and more-than-human methods of research in international cooperation. The proposed project uses an interdisciplinary set of methods and will inform academic and broader publics. We will employ ethnographic and archival research across four study sites in combination with a digital GIS based database that will visualize and model the research data. Concurrent activities include the production of creative interventions, public engagement events and the development of a public-facing touring exhibition. By combining scientific, cultural, and artistic perspectives, the project seeks to emphasize the results with a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of heritage, one that acknowledges the intertwined relationships between humans and the environment in a longue-durée perspective.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Internationaler Bezug: Großbritannien
• Partnerorganisation: Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Kooperationspartner: Dr. Peter Oakley