About the Project
SCARCE (Sustained Concerns: Administration of Mineral Resource Extraction in Central Europe, 1550-1850) is hosted by the History Department, which in turn is part of the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies. Supported by the European Research Council (Grant number 101076422), it will run from 1 November 2023 until 31 October 2028.
The project is led by Sebastian Felten and consists of six team members in total. SCARCE Team members will work closely with colleagues from the Research Cluster “History of Science”.
The Advisory Board consists of Oscar Gelderblom (University of Antwerp), Andrew Mendelsohn (Queen Mary University London), László Kontler (Central European University), Ulinka Rublack (University of Cambridge) and Pamela Smith (Columbia University).
Our Research
Our transdisciplinary research focuses on understanding how extractive activities created conflicts over the common good, how administrative practices have shaped perceptions of natural processes, and how the contradictions of long-term mining have shaped new economic and ecological ideas.
SCARCE leverages the characteristics of mineral resources – such as site specificity, inaccessibility, exhaustibility, and toxicity– to gain a historical understanding of human engagement with natural environments.
Detail from the Annaberger Bergaltar [Miner’s Altar] by Hans Hesse 1522 (Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany)
Our Team
SCARCE's research team consists of our Principal Investigator Sebastian Felten, Postdoctural Researcher Claire Sabel, two Predoctural Researchers, Sarah Seinitzer and Sebastian Leitner, and two Research Assistents, Dolores Šurlina and Leonie Müller.
Team members will work closely with colleagues from the Research Cluster “History of Science”.
The SCARCE Team. From left to right: Sarah Seinitzer, Sebastian Leitner, Claire Conklin Sabel, Sebastian Felten, Dolores Šurlina.
Watch a video of the presentation given by SCARCE's research team at the project's Kick-Off event:
Let's stay in touch!
Funded by the European Union (ERC, SCARCE, Grant number 101076422). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
