The project ‘PETROSINES — Peripheral Petromodernity. A Global Microhistory of the Sines Area Project (1971-1999)’, led by Ricardo Noronha, was one of the six History projects that received funding from the FCT under the Call for SR&TD Projects in All Scientific Domains launched at the end of 2023.

PETROSINES’ main objective is to expand knowledge about “petromodernity”, i.e. the historical processes through which the entire fabric of human life has come to depend upon socio-technical systems based on petroleum, emphasising the impact of this substance at a planetary level. The project will take as its case study the Sines Area Project, a state-led industrial scheme aimed to transform a small fishing town into a key player in the oil energetic regime.

Over the course of three years, and with funding of approximately 250,000 euros, the team will try to answer four key questions: 1) To what extent did the imaginaries of modernisation associated with global “oil cultures” inspire the decision to “develop” the Sines area? 2) What kind of transnational flows and agents (human and non-human) were set in motion by this decision and what impact did they have on the territory and its inhabitants? 3) What forms of technology, scientific knowledge, and technical expertise circulated to and from Sines? 4) What comparisons can be made with similar industrial growth poles associated with oil?

In addition to Ricardo Noronha, the team will be made up of IHC researchers Paulo Catrica, Maria do Mar Gago, Raquel Ribeiro, Amedeo Policante, Henrique Oliveira, João Pedro Santos, João Madeira, Anita Buhin, and Giulia Strippoli, joined by Davide Scarso (CIUHCT — NOVA FCST) and Franco Tomassoni (CoLABOR).

Photo: © Diana Barbosa