The Semiotics of Rubble

 Event 

The Semiotics of Rubble

Despite its bulky materiality, rubble is an under-investigated topic, usually confined to the realm of waste management studies, or to contested aid initiatives such as Cash for Working schemes, which mobilize "communities" to collect and clear disaster debris. The semantic fields generated by rubble, and their emotional geographies are largely overlooked. What is to be seen in rubble? Who sees it, and what is instead just residual, to be forgotten and made invisible?

About the speaker

Dr. Giovanna Gioli is a political philosopher working in the field of Human Geography. Before joining Bath Spa University as Senior Lecturer, Gioli held teaching posts in several international universities.

She has also worked for many years in the development sector, focussing on the Himalayas (Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bhutan), where she has spent long stretches of time over the past decade. She has published widely on critical geographies of development and the environment, migration and climate security, feminist political ecology and Post-Kantian French philosophy.