{"id":739,"date":"2025-11-12T14:55:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/phynest\/?p=739"},"modified":"2025-11-26T12:58:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:58:49","slug":"concrete-landscapes-technology-politics-and-environment-in-the-twentieth-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/phynest\/2025\/11\/12\/concrete-landscapes-technology-politics-and-environment-in-the-twentieth-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Concrete landscapes: technology, politics, and environment in the twentieth century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Research<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This project aims to contribute to debates on new materials for energy transitions by exploring the environmental and technopolitical history of the production, circulation, and consumption of an old yet highly significant material: concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnergy transitions\u201d are intrinsically linked to materials, both historically and in the present. Concrete, the most widely used construction material, has expanded rapidly over the past century, becoming a potential stratigraphic marker of the Anthropocene. Its production poses a major ecological challenge, with the cement industry responsible for 4\u20138% of global CO\u2082 emissions. As environmental pressures grow, the cement industry acknowledges the need to decarbonize. Meanwhile, materials scientists work to develop advanced materials and technologies to reduce concrete\u2019s global impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet concrete is a multi-layered product, shaped by geological, scientific, and historical processes, and its social, economic, and political dimensions should also be considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project seeks to understand how concrete became hegemonic and how it reshaped landscapes, societies, and imaginaries. History has proven crucial to reframing narratives of energy transitions and climate debates (Fressoz, 2024). A historical focus on concrete\u2014now receiving growing attention from anthropologists (Elinoff & Rubaii, 2025), urban geographers (Choplin, 2023), philosophers (Jappe, 2020), and environmental historians (Magalh\u00e3es, 2024)\u2014is expected to inform broader discussions on the material history of energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PhD dissertation will develop a historical case study focused on the twentieth century, with its specific geographic and chronological scope tailored to the candidate\u2019s background, interests, and linguistic skills. The project may address environmental, colonial, scientific, cultural, and diplomatic dimensions, as well as socio-environmental controversies surrounding concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Academic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Academic background<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n