On Fire: Cultural Approaches to Domicide and Australia's Fire Regimes
The housing destroyed in recent bushfires is almost always described by the media not as the loss of houses but rather the loss of “homes”. “Home” is an evocative, polysemic concept and hence one mobilised by different political agendas. If a house’s ashes can become the symbolic remains of life and dwelling, does this mean that the home destroyed by bushfire is also a representative site of “domicide”, the deliberate destruction of home? This paper explores the way in which bushfires challenge our theoretical framework for comprehending home destruction. If time permits, the paper will also consider some of the new relationships between real estate, finance and climate risk management.
Speakers
Dr Fiona Allon, Department of Gender and Cultural Studies
Dr Scott Webster, Department of Gender and Cultural Studies
Associate Professor Thom van Dooren (Chair), Department of Gender and Cultural Studies
About the series
The Living with Bushfire: Emerging Research Seminar Series brings together researchers from around the University of Sydney and beyond to explore diverse approaches to the topic of bushfire from the humanities and social sciences. The series seeks to offer an informal space to share emerging research with interested colleagues in order to gain feedback and to inform collaborative conversations.
This series is being co-ordinated by Associate Professor Ruth Barcan and Associate Professor Thom van Dooren.
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