Science in a crisis: networks, hierarchies and colonial continuities in responses to volcanic crises

Speaker: Martin Mahony, University of East Anglia

This talk will present findings from the interdisciplinary Curating Crises project, which examined the hidden histories of volcano science in the English-speaking Caribbean over the course of the twentieth century. Episodes of volcanic unrest are unique moments in which different forms of knowledge – scientific, experiential, ‘local’ – are brought into the high-stakes environment of crisis management and decision-making. This talk will explore the colonial dynamics of these processes, focusing on volcanic crises in Montserrat in the 1930s and 1990s. It will explore the knowledge networks and hierarchies that shaped governmental responses, and argue that some of the deficiencies in the early response to the 1990s crisis can be explained by events in the 1930s. The case will therefore be made for a long-term perspective on hazard response, and for interdisciplinary approaches to unearthing historical lessons for the present.

Martin Mahony est géographe et professeur à l'Université d'East Anglia. Il a publié des articles sur le changement climatique, les échanges entre les sciences environnementale et la politique, et la géographie des sciences et des techniques, en mobilisant la géographie, l'histoire, et les études des sciences et technique.