Mountains on the Move: A Relational Perspective on Inhabiting Climate Change in the Alps

Sammanfattning

This thesis sets out to ask what can be learned in terms of navigating climate change in the Alps when zooming in on human-environmental interdependencies in mountain tourism. For that matter, it conducts an ethnographic case study of the German Alpine Club’s (DAV) Stuttgart division, examining how Alpine professionals and mountain operations staff engage with the environment. Methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative ethnographic approach that combines semi-structured interviews, observations, document analysis, and photographic material. Theoretically, this thesis is mainly rooted in Jane Bennett’s concept of assemblages (2010) as well as Anna Tsing and colleagues’ concept of symbiotic entanglements (2017). The analysis reveals how Alpine professional and mountain operations staff’s work depends on maintaining balanced relationships with geological, geographical and meteorological entities, which together form dynamic assemblages. Thus, ecological and infrastructural changes are experienced as disruptions to established ways of dwelling in the Alps. The way in which they make sense of current environmental and infrastructural changes can be understood as what I call cracked relations between human and non-human actors. To navigate these changes, they work with adaptive strategies, flexible innovations and tools and rely on knowledge and skills that result from active engagement with the environment. These practices reflect cultural resilience, but go beyond mere coping. Rather, they can be interpreted as what I call efforts to mend cracked relations. Based on these findings, this thesis contributes to the field of political ecology by introducing the concepts of cracked relations and mending cracked relations. Additionally, it provides insights relevant to actors involved in understanding and adequately responding to changes in the Alpine region.