Project description
A novel approach in the study of societal climate crisis
Natural and man-made disasters significantly alter the landscape, sometimes making habitable places uninhabitable. While the effect of global anthropogenic climate change is new, the world has always had habitable and uninhabitable regions. Early attempts (1815-1914) by British and French imperial scientists to understand the limits on life used intellectual history methods to examine theories of environmental change instead of focusing on the imperial contexts on which those methods were based. The EU-funded HABITABILITY project will investigate the societal consequences of environmental change to close the research gap. It will place scientific and cultural ideas of uninhabitability into their historical contexts and establish habitability studies as the critical interdisciplinary methodology for an age of climate crisis.
Objective
Following a summer where parts of Europe flooded while others burned, this research addresses a fundamentally relevant question: what happens to societies when habitable places become uninhabitable? The large scale effects of anthropogenic climate change are new, but divisions of the world into 'habitable' and 'uninhabitable' regions are not, and have long shaped humanity. My project examines a pivotal part of this longer history by showing how between 1815 and 1914, British and French imperial scientists tried to measure the limits of life on earth in new ways (especially via the new sciences of geology, geography and ecology). There is nevertheless a significant research gap in that previous scholars have generally used intellectual history methods to examine theories of environmental change proposed by elite philosophers based in Europe, rather than addressing the imperial contexts in which this knowledge was made. Bringing an innovative combination of global history and history of science methods to archival sources, my project will close this gap by focusing on Central Asia and Mesopotamia, which became key to investigations into the societal consequences of environmental change (e.g. the movement of the Euphrates river causing cities to be abandoned). Examining the origins of these environmentally determinist imperial categories will simultaneously reveal their problematic legacies today (e.g. the idea of Afghanistan having an inherently 'violent geography'). This research thus aims to place scientific and cultural ideas of 'uninhabitability' into their historical contexts and pioneer 'habitability studies' as an essential interdisciplinary methodology for an age of climate crisis. This will also allow me to enhance my research skills (learning cutting-edge material culture and colonial archive methods) and expand my impact and international profile under the expert mentorship of Prof. Roland Wenzlhuemer to secure an academic position at a European university.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history ancient history
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.