The menhir
Aesthetic politics of radioactive waste disposal in northern Switzerland
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24224890 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rony Emmenegger (0009-0009-8892-5916, University of St.Gallen (Saint Gallen, Switzerland)), Federico Luisetti (0000-0001-7413-1343) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 137-153 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-16 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geographica Helvetica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-7312 • E-ISSN: 2194-8798 |
| Publisher | Copernicus GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.5194/gh-81-137-2026 |
| OpenAlex | W7129025773 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 38 |
Geological disposal projects rest on the assumption that radioactive waste can be safely managed through its spatio-temporal separation from human life at the surface. This paper examines how a local farmer in the Zürcher Weinland – one of the regions considered for nuclear waste disposal – disrupted this assumption by rendering the radioactive hazard perceptible through a series of landscape interventions. Drawing on interviews, participatory observations, and document analysis, we show how these interventions – banners, barrels, and, most notably, a 30 t protest boulder, the menhir – provoked controversy over humanity's relationship with radioactive waste and its implications for the continuation of rural life. In dialogue with Jacques Rancière's work on aesthetics and politics, we argue that these interventions can unsettle the region's consensual political landscape and reveal how human and non-human actors can emerge as political subjects.
aesthetics and politics · geological disposal · hazard perception · Jacques Rancière · landscape intervention · menhir · Protest · Radioactive waste · radioactive waste disposal · rural life · Critical Theory and Political Philosophy · Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies · Risk Perception and Management
Out of sight, out of mind
Aesthetic Perspectives on Culture, Politics, and Landscape
Politics of Bodies
The Thinking of Dissensus
Managing the Return of the Wild
The Post-Political and Its Discontents
Earth Beings
The participatory turn in radioactive waste management
Social sciences and radioactive waste management
The politics of scale through Rancière
Assembling Justice Spaces
Risk and safety analysis in long-term perspective
Prospect, Perspective and the Evolution of the Landscape Idea
Accounting for elephants
Nuclear memory
Making risk real
Scenophobia”, Geography and the Aesthetic Politics of Landscape
Re-conceptualising political landscapes after the material turn
Earthly graves for environmental futures
Capturing the multiplicities of resilience through popular geopolitics
The aesthetic turn in border studies
Space, Politics, and the Political
Rancière, Politics, and the Occupy Movement
Nuclear strata
Projected Futures
The Aesthetic Dimension
| Highly cited | No |
|---|