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Antarctica Reframed: Material Histories and Genealogies of Human Presence

Objective

Why is Antarctica still imagined as a pristine, timeless, and uninhabited continent—despite over two centuries of human presence? This question is rarely posed. The enduring imaginary of Antarctica as an untouched wilderness has silenced even the possibility of asking what humanity has done there. Yet this silence matters urgently today. In the context of the global climate crisis, Antarctica is invoked as a model of sustainability, a unique experiment in international governance, and even a prototype for extraplanetary colonisation. More fundamentally, there has been no critical and sustained examination of what the expansion of humanity into Antarctica has entailed, nor of what it means for the global history of human presence on Earth.
AWAY seeks to break this silence by offering the first continent-wide, materially grounded study of human presence in Antarctica. The project starts from the premise that things are active agents, they have not merely enabled presence; they have configured it. AWAY will investigate how human presence in Antarctica has been materially configured, remembered, and projected across time. To achieve this, the project develops a threefold analytical structure: Inhabiting, which examines the material configuration of presence; Remembering, which analyses how Antarctic pasts have been framed, erased, or classified; and Prototyping, which studies experimental and imagined futures of inhabitation. Together, these perspectives will establish a new archaeological framework that redefines Antarctica as a key site for understanding the contemporary world.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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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)

Programme(s)

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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.

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.

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2025-ADG

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Host institution

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 2 497 843,00
Address
CALLE SERRANO 117
28006 Madrid
Spain

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Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

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.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)