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Mining voids: Extraction and emotion at the Australian coal frontier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2020

Hedda Haugen Askland Open the ORCID record for Hedda Haugen Askland [Opens in a new window]
Hedda Haugen Askland*
Affiliation:
Centre for Social Research and Regional Futures, Centre for 21st Century Humanities, School of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW2308, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Hedda Haugen Askland, Email: Hedda.Askland@newcastle.edu.au
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Abstract

Wollar is a small village located in the Mid-Western Region in New South Wales, Australia. Geographically removed, climatically different and culturally distinct from the Arctic, it might seem as a distant case for the exploration of Arctic Uchranotopias and resource extraction; the topic of this Special Issue. Yet, the affective and temporal dimensions of mining are not necessarily restricted to distinct regions, and there are theoretical opportunities for cooperative analysis across diverse regions. By bringing forward this case study, I aim to illustrate how the concepts of mining emotions and Uchranotopia have applicability beyond the polar region and how a broader theory of mining emotions may be advanced. Through the notion of “mining voids,” I investigate how discourses of extraction as prosperity clash with lived experiences at the coal face. Mining voids—both present and future—have become markers for physical and social landscapes and, as a metaphor, it embeds the contradiction between utopian narratives of a coal-sponsored future and dystopian imaginings at the coal face. Through analysis of the discourses of mining voids and how, as the voids materialise, emotions are mined, I will tie this case study to the debate of Arctic resource extraction and community making, affect and temporality.

Keywords

MiningAnthropologyDisplacementPlaceIdentity
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 56 , 2020 , e5
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Kirsten Thisted

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