"Ethnographies of Transformation: Crafting Post-Coal Futures in Eastern Germany" Field: Anthropology of the future, transformation, the environment

“转型的民族志：在德国东部打造后煤炭时代的未来”领域：未来、转型、环境的人类学

• 批准号: 2594332
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2594332
• 关键词: Ethnographies; Transformation; Crafting; Post; Coal

On 3 July 2020, responding to global calls to combat climate change, reduce CO2-emissions, and exit from fossil fuels, the German government passed legislation to phase out coal by 2038 and derive 95% of energy from renewable sources by 2050. In addition to decommissioning the coal industry and expanding the renewable sector, this plan envisions making the country's coal regions 'fit for the future' (zukunftsfähig) by fostering innovative industries and advancing rural development through locally designed processes of 'structural transformation' (Strukturwandel). With its core themes of sustainable energy provision, technological innovation, and civic participation, this transformation is situated at the intersection of three contemporary moments of crisis: of the environment, of capitalism, and of democracy. My research will focus on the distinctively Eastern German experience of organising 'structural transformation', a term which reminds people of the 'structural ruptures' of reunification in the 1990s (deindustrialization and privatization, thousands of layoffs, outmigration in the millions, and the emptying of formerly thriving towns and villages). In its focus on economic, rural, and industrial development, the post-coal transformation interlinks with these wounds of post socialist transformation. This makes Eastern Germany an intriguing research site where orientations towards the past and the future must be reconciled in the present through the negotiation and organisation of change.During twelve months of fieldwork, I will follow civic, political, and corporate actors as they navigate the crafting of post-coal futures in an area that exemplifies the complexities, bureaucratic intricacies, and uneven nature of the nationally postulated transformation as it meets local realities. Three questions will guide my research:(1) What issues do projects for the post-coal future problematize and envision to fix?(2) How do local actors navigate conflicts between administrative structures, ideal developmental scenarios, and geographical realities?(3) How do perceptions of the post-coal future, and the hopes and fears tied to structural transformation, differ among inhabitants of the same area?My research speaks to scholarly debates about life in conditions of crisis and uncertainty; the production of space under capitalism and deindustrialization; the implications of the mobility of capital and people; and about distinctions between rural and urban, humans and the environment. It follows contemporary calls for an anthropology that expands anthropocentric research to geographical, infrastructural, and ecological domains, and it is dedicated to the exploration of timely questions about how people operate in response to complex issues that challenge familiar structures of political and spatial organisation.

2020年7月3日，为响应应对气候变化、减少二氧化碳排放和退出化石燃料的全球呼吁，德国政府通过立法，到2038年逐步淘汰煤炭，到2050年95%的能源来自可再生能源。除了退出煤炭行业和扩大可再生能源行业外，该计划还设想通过促进创新产业和通过当地设计的“结构转型”（Strukturwandel）进程推进农村发展，使该国的煤炭地区“适应未来”（zukunftsfähig）。以可持续能源供应、技术创新和公民参与为核心主题，这一转变正处于当代三大危机的交汇点：环境危机、资本主义危机和民主危机。我的研究将集中在独特的东德组织“结构转型”的经验，这让人们想起了在20世纪90年代统一的“结构断裂”（去工业化和私有化，数千名裁员，在数百万的外迁，和以前繁荣的城镇和村庄的清空）。在关注经济、农村和工业发展的过程中，后煤炭转型与后社会主义转型的这些创伤相互联系。这使得东部德国成为一个有趣的研究地点，在那里，过去和未来的方向必须通过谈判和组织变革来调和。在为期12个月的实地考察中，我将跟踪公民，政治和企业行为者，因为他们在一个复杂的领域中导航后煤炭未来的制作，官僚主义的错综复杂，国家设想的转型在符合当地现实的同时也具有不平衡的性质。三个问题将指导我的研究：（1）后煤炭时代的未来项目会解决哪些问题？(2)地方行动者如何处理行政结构、理想发展情景和地理现实之间的冲突？(3)同一地区的居民对后煤炭时代的未来以及与结构转型相关的希望和恐惧有何不同？我的研究涉及到关于危机和不确定性条件下的生活的学术辩论;资本主义和去工业化下的空间生产;资本和人的流动性的影响;以及农村和城市，人类和环境之间的区别。它遵循当代人类学的要求，将以人为中心的研究扩展到地理，基础设施和生态领域，并致力于探索人们如何应对挑战熟悉的政治和空间组织结构的复杂问题。