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Paper short abstract:

Ambient noise has been foregrounded as an atmospheric risk. By looking at the practices of noise observatories, this talk discusses the epistemic challenges of listening to an atmosphere, and how noise becomes an object of knowledge and governance under the acoustic “gaze” of noise observatories.

Paper long abstract:

While noted as a “forgotten” and “Cinderella” pollutant, ambient noise is increasingly foregrounded as an atmospheric risk today (King and Murphy 2016). For instance, the UNEP Frontiers 2022 report has listed noise as a leading environmental risk. With the proliferation of noise-maps, sensors, measurement devices, regulations, and (inter-)governmental reports, the atmosphere of cities has become more palpable and experienceable as a site around which governmental bodies, knowledge practices, and citizen-led movements have taken shape. And yet, it is often noted how challenging it is to fix noise as objects of knowledge and governance. As Marina Peterson notes, while noise can attune us to the atmosphere, it is nevertheless indefinite, elusive, and indeterminate, situated between inscriptions and perceptions (2021). Drawing on the initial stages of a research project (ERC-WaveMatters), this talk discusses the epistemological challenges of “listening” to the atmosphere. It will do this by exploring the relatively recent development of noise observatories, and in particular, Bruitparif, a non-profit observatory in Paris. Akin to the “critical zone observatories” (Latour and Weibel 2020), noise observatories are networks of researchers, sensors, measurement stations, laboratories, governmental bodies, and citizen groups that equip urban space as laboratories for the surveillance and mapping of noise as a “field” of interrelated things and humans. Through an analysis of reports, noise-maps, and methodological documents from Bruitparif, this talk addresses how noise is shaped both as a “disciplined” (Lynch 1985) and “unruly” object (Domínguez Rubio 2014) under the acoustic “gaze” of the noise observatory.