Department of Classics and Archaeology

Fate, Luck and Fortune

Project summary

How do we talk about the risks of our environment?

Who do we blame when things go wrong? 

This project sets out to deepen and develop understanding of the concepts of fate, luck and fortune (hereafter FLF), and their influence on perceptions of agency, in different types of narratives concerned with environmental risk.

Fate Luck Fortune

Fate, luck and fortune

Narratives of environmental risk

River Anker floods, Nuneaton, Warwickshire; 27 May 1932. Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottingham, RE/DOP/H42/22/2
 
 

Project events

Public lecture: Thursday 7 September 2017

Jackson Lear, Rutgers University: 'The Return of Animal Spirits: Toward a Vitalist Narrative of Environmental Risk' 

Venue: Seminar Room 9, University of Liverpool in London, 33 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AG

Time: 6-7.30pm


Workshop 1: Historical Narratives - Friday 31 March 2017

Hemsley B7, University Park

This workshop examined the development of concepts of FLF in narratives of environmental risk, noting how the characteristics of these concepts (if not these concepts themselves) may emerge in different temporal and spatial contexts.

See our video of Workshop 1:


Workshop 2: Political Narratives - Friday 7 July 2017

Hemsley B7, University Park

The second workshop explored how a more thorough understanding of the role of the concepts of FLF in narratives of environmental risk (past and present) may be used to develop novel policy responses.


Workshop 3: Popular Narratives - Friday 8 September 2017

Venue: Seminar Room 9, University of Liverpool in London, 33 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AG

Time: 10am-5.30pm

The final workshop investigated whether and how conceptualisations of FLF remain powerful in current as well as historical popular discourses concerned with environmental risks (eg, how they engage with different cultures of blame to shape perceptions of agency). 


Project team

  • Primary Investigator:
    Esther Eidinow (Nottingham)
  • Georgina Endfield (Liverpool)

Funded by

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Read more about the project 

 

Confirmed speakers

 
These events are sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
University_of_Liverpool_logo_2007
 
Arts and Humanites Research Council
 
 

Department of Classics and Archaeology

University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

Contact details
Archaeology twitter
Classics twitter