Dr Petra Tjitske Kalshoven: For a familiar future: The power of habit in England’s nuclear heartland
| Dates: | 12 April 2021 |
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| Times: | 16:00 - 17:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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| How much: | Free |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, Adults, General public |
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| Speaker: | Dr Petra Tjitske Kalshoven |
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Dr Petra Tjitske Kalshoven, University of Manchester
Title: For a familiar future: The power of habit in England’s nuclear heartland
Abstract: This is a story of two recent energy-related initiatives in the Borough of Copeland, Cumbria, England’s nuclear heartland. In July 2020, a ‘clean energy hub’ was announced, to be located just north of Sellafield, a nuclear site rich in history and controversy. With Sellafield moving into full decommissioning, Copeland has heralded this new initiative as a potential ‘jobs bonanza’ for the area and proudly associates its nuclear-inspired underpinning with the UK’s net zero carbon emissions target. Six months later, another initiative, which had already received planning permission for a site nearby, made puzzled headlines in national and international media. A deep mining venture meant to produce cokes coal for the steel industry, it has sparked amazement precisely over its lack of resonance with the net zero target. What the two projects have in common, however, is hope for a familiar future: jobs. Drawing on my on-going ethnography of England’s nuclear heartland, I explore the power, rhetorics, and ironies of habit involved in the longing for familiar futures.
Petra Tjitske Kalshoven (Ph.D. McGill University, 2006) is a social anthropologist at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on skilled manifestations of human curiosity, simulation, and play as these find expression in different practices, ranging from reenactment, museum practice, and taxidermy to nuclear decommissioning. Kalshoven currently lives in West Cumbria for a five-year immersive ethnographic project on Sellafield’s post-nuclear quest for ‘environmental remediation’.
Join Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/94209216674
Meeting ID: 942 0921 6674
Passcode: 114642
Speaker
Dr Petra Tjitske Kalshoven
Role: Dalton Research Fellow
Organisation: University of Manchester
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