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Fascicolo monografico | 5 | 1 | 2025
Articolo | Thinking with Gaps between Coal and Post-Coal in an Eastern German Mining District
Thinking with Gaps between Coal and Post-Coal in an Eastern German Mining District
Abstract
By the mid-2030s, the Central German Mining District in eastern Germany is expected to see the end of brown coal mining. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this article explores how the anticipated coal phase-out is entangled with the legacy of the post-socialist period following German reunification. It shows how these overlapping and often conflicting temporalities shape present-day life in the region. Phasing out coal is framed as progress toward a better future and as a corrective to the disruptions triggered by reunification. In this temporal configuration, the present emerges as a time of transformation. I conceptualise this present as a gap – a temporal and spatial condition shaped by the simultaneous presence of coal pasts and post-coal futures. The concept of the gap helps to reveal how disruptions and past-future entanglements in time structure the everyday experiences of those living in the Central German Mining District.
Presentato: 21 Marzo 2025 | Accettato: 21 Maggio 2025 | Pubblicato 21 Luglio 2025 | Lingua: en
Keywords Eastern Germany • Time • Energy transition • Gaps • Coal mining
Copyright © 2025 Felix Schiedlowski. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2025/01/002