Shifting perspectives: collecting stories of post-extractive f*utures in a mining town

Abstract

The shrinking town of Eisenerz lies at the foot of the Erzberg mountain, Austria’s largest and best-known site of iron-ore extraction. The post-industrial town is experiencing a rural exodus, affecting women in particular. Within this complex field, the citizen science project Stories of Post-extractive F*utures focuses on intersectional feminist perspectives on an area of mineral extraction. It collates stories of care in order to broaden the perceptions of mining areas and focus future perspectives on feminist narrations. We ask: Which practices contribute to the continuance of the community? The collected material shows, discusses and negotiates the spatial practices of repair amid extraction of multiple actors.We work with local associations and different age groups to reach diverse groups and profit from a lively network of local associations. Thinking and knowing with the diverse actors and their—often surprising—practices, the citizen scientists shape the project on several levels: they collect and locate stories of practices; they research private archives; they report and sometimes even organize. Mutual learning takes place in meetings and shared activities, and through the process of transformation into drawings by East Styrian artist Roswitha Weingrill. The collected knowledge will contribute to creating imaginaries of future stories of a liveable community.

Keywords

• artistic research
• care
• citizen science
• extracti