51. Memories of a Dying Industry: Sense and Identity in a British Paper Mill
- Author
-
Stefan Krebs and Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) > Public History and Outreach (PHO) [research center]
- Subjects
Cultural Studies ,Cognitive science ,Balance (metaphysics) ,History ,papermaking ,Process (engineering) ,Communication ,05 social sciences ,History [A04] [Arts & humanities] ,History of technology ,Identity (social science) ,Sensory system ,sensory studies ,050905 science studies ,history of technology ,Visual arts ,History of Science, Technology, and Medicine ,Ethos ,Embodied cognition ,Histoire [A04] [Arts & sciences humaines] ,Instrumentation (computer programming) ,Sociology ,Arts and Humanities ,0509 other social sciences ,050904 information & library sciences - Abstract
Frogmore paper mill is a kind of time machine that allows historians of technology and the senses to study mechanized paper-making as it was done one hundred years ago. Before the introduction of instrumentation and automatic process control paper-making depended profoundly on the embodied skills of the workers. This paper will focus on the sensory knowledge and skills required for monitoring and controlling old machinery. Investigating skills-in-use will help to unravel the close link between sensing and acting to keep a continuous production process stable and running. Paper-makers would shift intuitively between different senses and sensory modes of monitoring and diagnosing sensory tell-tales to balance the production process. The importance of sensory knowledge and embodied skills also shaped paper-makers’ self-perception and professional ethos. The paper will examine the impact of new process control technology on the crucial role of sensory skills for the paper-makers’ individual and collective identities.
- Published
- 2017