Shifting the Perspectives: Collecting Stories of Post-extractive F*utures in a Mining Town

The shrinking town of Eisenerz lies at the foot of the Erzberg mountain, Austria’s largest and best-known site of extraction of iron ore. The post-industrial town is experiencing a rural exodus, which concerns women in particular. Mining is predominantly narrated in male, heroic narratives, while counter-narratives of repair, care, reproduction and maintenance are mostly overlooked. 

Within this complex field, the citizen science project Post-extractive F*utures focuses on intersectional feminist perspectives on an area of extraction of minerals; it collects stories of care to broaden the perception of mining areas and strengthen the focus on feminist narrations for future perspectives. We ask: Which practices contribute to the continuance of the community? The project shows, discusses and negotiates the spatial practices of repair amid extraction with multiple actors. Therefore, we work with local associations and different age groups to reach diverse groups and profit from a lively environment 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, and they report and sometimes even organize. Processes of mutual learning take place in meetings and shared activities, and through the process of transformation into drawings by the East Styrian artist Roswitha Weingrill. The collected knowledge will contribute to creating imaginations of future stories of a liveable community. With the help of artistic methods, these will be illustrated and made accessible in public discussions and impact local politics. The short presentation will also address questions of ethics and giving back to the community we learned from.