The meanings of disasters
"40 Years On: The Norwegian Response to the Alexander L. Kielland Oil Platform Disaster"
Thursday, Feb. 13, 3-4 p.m. HH-1013
Presenters: Marie Smith-Solbakken, Professor of History, University of Stavanger and Hans-Jørgen Wallin Weihe, Professor of Social Work, Lillehammer University College, Norway.
In the 1980s three oil-platform disasters claimed many lives: one in Norwegian waters (Alexander L. Kielland), one in Canadian waters (Ocean Ranger) and one in the North Sea (Piper Alpha). This presentation mostly concerns the Alexander L. Kielland. It uses the three hundred interviews collected by the presenters and their research team. From these we can see how local communities and individual families responded emotionally and economically and, in retrospect, pursue the question whether the official response adequately encompassed the impact of the disaster and its meaning for those communities and families.
Presented by Department of History; Maritime History Archive; Maritime Studies Research Unit.