A research project by the "Cultures of the Alps" Institute is shedding light on the construction of reservoirs in the Alps and the resettlement of entire valleys required for this. The Swiss National Science Foundation is now funding Sebastian De Pretto's work for four years.
Sebastian De Pretto from the "Cultures of the Alps" Institute has been studying reservoirs in the Alps and their construction history for around two years. His research project focuses in particular on the resettlement of entire villages that became necessary for this purpose - for example in the Göscheneralptal in Uri or the Wägital in Schwyz. The title of the research project is: "Reservoirs and resettlement policy in the Alpine region after 1918 - between participation and exclusion of peripheral societies".
As part of his work, the historian is investigating what the construction of a reservoir in an Alpine valley meant for the people who lived and worked there. For his project, Sebastian De Pretto is examining the fates of geographically and politically peripheral valleys from a social and environmental history perspective.
Dätwyler Foundation has made the research project possible
The "Cultures of the Alps" Institute initially supported the research project with one year of start-up funding. This was made possible at the time by the Dätwyler Foundation. This gave Sebastian De Pretto the opportunity to spend several months preparing an application for funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation in order to secure long-term financing for the multi-year research project. Thanks to a postdoctoral mobility grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, Sebastian De Pretto was subsequently able to deepen his work over the course of a year with research visits to the universities of Munich, Trento and Innsbruck.
The project is now entering the next round. The Swiss National Science Foundation recently awarded Sebastian De Pretto a so-called Ambizione grant. This will give the Basel-born researcher the opportunity to intensify his reservoir research at the University of Bern (Department of Economic, Social and Environmental History) or as an associated researcher at the Institute "Cultures of the Alps". Over a period of four years, the project should now lead to a habilitation, which could enable De Pretto to lecture at universities in the future.
Sebastian De Pretto originally studied history, philosophy and conflict studies in Basel, Bologna and Heidelberg. His dissertation, written at the University of Lucerne between 2016 and 2019, focused on the places of remembrance of the Abyssinian War in South Tyrol.
Critical examination of decision-making processes
In addition to resettlement, the current reservoir research project also focuses on displacement processes that have resulted in many places over the long term, for example due to the loss of agricultural land or restricted access to water. The economic and infrastructural benefits that a reservoir brings to a previously structurally weak mountain valley are critically weighed against such serious socio-ecological consequences. In order to uncover the power structures and decision-making scope of directly affected residents underlying the construction of a reservoir, the study shows how individual communities, hamlets or mountain farms were involved in the planning and construction of a power plant. The mechanisms of exclusion and participation of peripheral societies, which vary between federal and central state concession rights depending on the Alpine country, thus become visible.
In addition to a social and environmental history approach, the project also takes a transnational approach. The critical examination of hydropower use in the Alps contributes to the current debate on an energy future that is not only ecological but also socially acceptable.
Published on 31. December 2022
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