Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses uses of heritage narratives in two post-industrial towns in Norway. A scheme has been put in place ensuring children and youths growing up developing ownership and knowledge about their local heritage, though with a rather rigid understanding of local history and heritage.

Paper long abstract:

The backdrop for this presentation is the post-industrial twin towns of Rjukan and Notodden; once prestigious sites of infrastructural development and employment that came about due to the establishment of Hydro in 1905, now a postindustrial community inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. An inscription fueled by economic vulnerability, depopulation and loss of self-esteem. Here, I compare two cases or narratives; The first is an educational program aimed at children in year 6 that narrates the industrial development of Rjukan and Notodden in terms of an industrial fairy tale. The second is an interview with a retired employee who describes his working career in Hydro as a road to closing down the industry in Rjukan and Notodden.

The panel abstract asks: Which temporalities underlie individual and collective place- and future-making? In the case of the Rjukan-Notodden industrial heritage tale, emphasis is on the early formative years. Whereas for many, in the older generations, still today, the narrative freshest in mind, is the tale of how the industry was closed down and outsourced to countries with low-costs production, not how Sam Eyde and Hydro saved the world from famine, as history is told to children and youths today. These two temporalities, operate with different place-narratives, though because of the recent (2015) inscription onto the UNESCO World Heritage list, the focus is on the formative years of Notodden and Rjukan as the value of the ‘industrial ruins’ are linked to hope for future economic growth, tourism and revitalisation of local place.