From Mercury Stories to Sustainability Stories: A Discussion with Henrik Selin

By Maureen Heydt

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) hosted a webinar to launch the new book from Henrik Selin, “Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability through a Volatile Element,” co-authored with Noelle Eckley Selin. The book is an interdisciplinary analysis of human interactions with mercury through history that sheds light on efforts to promote and achieve sustainability.

Selin, Associate Dean for Studies at the Pardee School of Global Studies and Associate Director of the Land Use and Livelihoods Initiative at the GDP Center, gave a presentation summarizing the book and the history of exploring mercury through a sustainability lens. Indeed, Selin commented that, “These mercury stories go beyond mercury, they are really sustainability stories.”

He opened by noting “When people think about mercury, they often think about Minamata, Japan – where many people became sick with mercury poisoning, and also as the place where the international community later came together to make the first global agreement on managing mercury – the Minamata Convention.”

Selin and Eckley Selin were present at the Minamata Convention, and moved by the use of storytelling by advocates, decided to incorporate the theme in their new book. “The first chapter chronicles the stories and difficulties of the people who suffered from Minamata disease. One of the ways they drew attention to this was through storytelling. We wanted to build on that tradition with our book,” Selin noted.

Taking a systems approach, Selin and Eckley Selin developed and applied an analytical framework — the Human-Technical-Environmental (HTE) framework — and a matrix-based approach that can inform other efforts to evaluate and promote sustainability. The book is divided into five systems of mercury stories: Global Human-Technical-Environmental Cycling; Human Health; Energy, Industry and Pollution; Assets and Liabilities; and Mining and Sustainable Livelihoods.

Selin commented that the research is “about advancing sustainability. This is research and analysis with a clear empirical goal of helping to understand human well-being today and in the future.” 

For more on Mercury Stories, including teaching resources and materials, visit the webpage and also listen to the playlist. Subscribe for updates from the Land Use and Livelihoods Initiatives.