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Annette Henning IAmbiguous I Artefacts Solar Collectors in Swedish Contexts. On Processes of Cultural Modification Ambiguous Artefacts Solar Collectors in Swedish Contexts. On Processes of Cultural Modification Ambiguous Artefacts Solar Collectors in Swedish Contexts. On Processes of Cultural Modification Annette Henning Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology 2000 AMBIGUOUS ARTEFACTS Solar Collectors in Swedish Contexts. On Processes of Cultural Modification Doctoral dissertation Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology, 44 © Annette Henning Department of Social Anthropology Stockholm University SE 106 91 Stockholm Sweden All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author. ISBN 91-7265-034-6 Cover pictures: Installing solar collectors on the house of one of the study circle participants, Dstera village (big photo by the author, small photo by Hans Carlson). Back-cover drawing: A coltsfoot (by the author). Printed by Elanders Gotab, Stockholm 2000 To my family and to my friends Contents Some concepts of the book IX Acknowledgements XlI 1. The study and the book 1 Introduction 2 Methods and the character of fieldwork 4 Solar heating in Sweden - a short background 15 Outline of the book 26 2. Theoretical approach 31 Placing the study among theories of humans and their physical world 33 Culture, process and structure in theory and praxis - an integrated view 49 3. Cultural representations of sunshine, energy and technology 67 Bridging cultural categories 67 Solar, energy, technology - combining the three 74 4. Solsverige takes shape 79 Utilisation of solar heating - an old phenomenon 80 Memories of preceding decades 83 The 1980's and 90's - networks and legitimacy 92 5. The self-build movement 97 The 1970's environmental movement and the study circle tradition 100 Slow-changing values and the creation of a trustworthy company 105 To modify structure: concluding remarks 125 6. Solar energy projects and the negotiation of perspectives 127 The compromise - a story about a solar collector as a tool of change 128 'Technologies of the future' and 'relics of the past' - a story about incompatible artefacts 156 Integration processes: concluding remarks 174 7. Solar collectors and single-family houses 177 Study circles in Qstera village 178 The slow process of getting the solar collector into one's focus of attention 194 Are solar collectors ugly? 200 Are solar collectors expensive? 215 Ambiguous artefacts: concluding remarks 231 8. The power to change society - some closing words 233 Notes 241 References 269 Index 283 Some concepts of the book Active solar energy: The expression is used to denominate the production of heat or electricity through the artefacts of a solar heating system or a PV-system (see also Passive solar energy). Artefact: This thesis deals with a kind of material object that is constructed for the purpose of producing heat from solar radiation: the solar collector. Throughout the book, this object will be referred to as an artefact, a term defined by Miller (1992:85) as the result of human labour as opposed to equally concrete natural phenomena. Core network: I began my fieldwork among people who work professionally with solar collectors (and solar panels) in Sweden. Many of these businessmen and researchers meet in annual conferences or in various kinds of research or application projects. They therefore have a social network of relations that is relatively dense, which means that most of them know or know of most of the others (Mitchell 1969: 179: "Density... is usually defined as the proportion of actually existing relationships out of the number which would exist among a given number of people if they were all directly linked to one another"). The main part of my material from this 'core network' is presented in chapters four and five. Cultural sharing: Culture, the way I see it, is not anything that exists in itself. It is a denomination of something that people have in common, namely habits, experiences or modes of thought. It is also something changeable and, to a large extent, subjectively understood. Social anthropologists study such habits, experiences, or modes of thought that individuals share with one another to a greater or lesser extent. Electricity: Physicists describe different forms of energy as having different qualities (Broman and Ott 1988). Electricity is a high quality energy form. This means it can be used for light, IX mechanical work, and heat. The highest energy qualities can be transformed fully into lower energy qualities such as heat, but not the other way around. Energy: 'Energy' is an umbrella term for all forms of energy. It should not be confused with 'electricity', which is one of several forms of energy. Fringe network: The three sub-fields presented in chapters six and seven are all events happening at the 'fringe' of the core network of my study. We see in these chapters a few examples of what might happen when those professionally engaged with solar heating meet those who are not. Note that 'fringe networks' are only 'fringe' in relation to a network including groups and individuals working with solar energy on a daily basis. As networks of social relations look different depending on who is looking, they are also only 'fringe' when seen from the bird's eye view of this book. Passive solar energy: The expression is used to denominate the production of heat through special building constructions (see also Active solar energy). Process (see Structure and process) Solar collector: A solar collector is the most essential component of a solar heating system. In Sweden water is the most dominant medium for solar heating systems, which are predominantly used for domestic hot water and for heating buildings during spring and autumn (see more about this in chapter one). Solar panel: A solar panel consists typically of 36 solar cells in which electricity is produced by means of so called photovoltaic conversion of solar radiation. It is also referred to as 'PV panel' and the cells as 'PV cells'. Solar panels should not be confused with solar collectors, the kind of artefact discussed in this book. 'Solsverige' (Solar Sweden): A concept often used among solar energy professionals as an umbrella term for solar energy plants, solar energy researchers, and solar energy companies. Structure and process: In this book I treat 'structure' as a cultural expression that has stabilised in some material, social or conceptual form and thus has become more slow-to-change than other cultural expressions. When people reproduce, modify or break down structure (which also constitutes the actual condition x for a modification), then we can talk about 'processes of change and modification' (for a more thorough explanation, see chapter two). Sub-field: This study is defined by its selection of solar heating co-operation projects rather than locality or ethnical­ organisational belonging. I have experienced the study of each of these co-operation projects as a study per se - a 'sub-field'. Each of these sub-fields was, however, always a part of the larger fieldwork and never a separate piece. I chose the concept 'sub­ field' as these parts were only parts carved out by my study. It should therefore not be confused with the rather obsolete expression 'sub-culture'. Neither should it be confused with the way 'sub-fields' have been used in the United States to denominate different anthropological branches (Collier 1997). Later, when forming these particular parts of my study, my 'sub-fields', into text I began calling them 'stories'. Technology: 'Technology' is a cultural construct, a way of categorising certain artefacts, activities or processes, but also a denomination for a certain kind of knowledge (Bijker et al. 1990:4, Bijker 1995:231). 'Technology' is thus a contextually varying concept connected to wider modes of thought (see also chapter three, note 3). Translocal fieldwork: In translocal fieldwork, material is collected in several different localities that are linked together in some way. What happens in one of these localities affects happenings in the other places. Preferably, there should therefore be a combination of several points of observation. Such fieldwork is not merely 'multilocal', as a 'translocal field study' also has to make clear the nature of the relation between the different localities (Hannerz, forthcoming). Value: "... the term 'value' ... may refer to the price of something or the meaning of something ... , or in general to that which people hold 'dear', either morally or monetarily" (Sahlins 1976:214). Xl Acknowledgements When presenting my research in progress to solar energy researchers and solar energy businessmen, I was usually met with great interest and a fascination for social anthropology. Anthropology colleagues, for their part, often seemed more interested in the technicalities of solar energy systems than in the ethnography and the anthropological theories and methods of my work. I hope that this book will be able to satisfy both categories of readers, both obviously interested in the work of the other. Now and then someone in Solsverige would ask to what audience I was writing for. Such questions forced me to realise that the thesis is an exam work that by necessity primarily must turn to an anthropological readership. Nevertheless, I have also written my texts with a larger readership in mind and therefore attempted to use anthropological terms with care. It is my sincere hope that this book will be enjoyable and readable, not only by social anthropologists, but by anyone interested in knowing more about attempts to integrate solar heating systems into the Swedish society. I have chosen not to mention by name each individual that has made this research possible. Instead I would like to express a collective gratitude to those of you who read parts of my text, who supported me or shared their ideas and experiences with me, who took time off for an interview or who welcomed me into their normally internal meetings.

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