Prosjektetableringsstøtte FRIPRO ERC LABOUR/POWER

PI went to interview-stage with an ERC Starting Grant Application (entitled: "Labour/Power. Ethnographic Explorations of the energy-work nexus in newly industrialised countries") twice (June 2016, June 2017). PI will rework grant application and improve CV through 1) a buy-out from other teaching and administrative duties; 2) a short-term writing-retreat; 3) some additional, smaller-scale research activities. Project proposal summary: In newly industrialised countries, large-scale energy projects have a major impact on locally embedded economic practices, which may not always be positive. Competition over work is particularly pronounced near power stations. These infrastructures tend to raise hopes for more jobs and cheaper electricity supply in the communities nearby. In order to adequately address this cluster of problems, I propose to ethnographically study energy and work in conjunction with each other. "Labour/Power”, to be developed through joint ethnographic, historical and theoretical work, will be the key concept to reconfigure our anthropological understanding of the (seemingly separate) domains of work and energy.