{"title":"Making Mercury's Histories: Mercury in Gold Mining's Past and Present.","authors":"Peter Oakley","doi":"10.1080/00026980.2023.2192125","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article considers the presence and absence of mercury, and why in different social arenas where gold features, mercury can become either pervasive or elusive. To substantiate this argument, the article offers two contrasting examples: (1) presentation strategies at Pacific Seaboard gold rush heritage sites, and (2) the background to the Minamata Bay tragedy and the Minamata Convention's subsequent framing of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Global South. By unpacking these divergent social histories of mercury use and its consequences, the article identifies the current disconnect between different histories of mercury, and the problematic consequences of this disengagement.</p>","PeriodicalId":50963,"journal":{"name":"Ambix","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ambix","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00026980.2023.2192125","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This article considers the presence and absence of mercury, and why in different social arenas where gold features, mercury can become either pervasive or elusive. To substantiate this argument, the article offers two contrasting examples: (1) presentation strategies at Pacific Seaboard gold rush heritage sites, and (2) the background to the Minamata Bay tragedy and the Minamata Convention's subsequent framing of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Global South. By unpacking these divergent social histories of mercury use and its consequences, the article identifies the current disconnect between different histories of mercury, and the problematic consequences of this disengagement.
期刊介绍：
Ambix is an internationally recognised, peer-reviewed quarterly journal devoted to publishing high-quality, original research and book reviews in the intellectual, social and cultural history of alchemy and chemistry. It publishes studies, discussions, and primary sources relevant to the historical experience of all areas related to alchemy and chemistry covering all periods (ancient to modern) and geographical regions. Ambix publishes individual papers, focused thematic sections and larger special issues (either single or double and usually guest-edited). Topics covered by Ambix include, but are not limited to, interactions between alchemy and chemistry and other disciplines; chemical medicine and pharmacy; molecular sciences; practices allied to material, instrumental, institutional and visual cultures; environmental chemistry; the chemical industry; the appearance of alchemy and chemistry within popular culture; biographical and historiographical studies; and the study of issues related to gender, race, and colonial experience within the context of chemistry.
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