Clarence Hatton-Proulx

Clarence Hatton-Proulx
PhD in urban studies, 2024
Centre Urbanisation Culture Société • Supervisor : Sophie L. Van Neste

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In front of an international, multidisciplinary jury, Clarence Hatton-Proulx was awarded the distinction of Excellent for her thesis at the crossroads of energy history and urban studies, in cotutelle with Sorbonne University.

Innovative in analytical, methodological and empirical terms, her work makes an indisputable contribution to our knowledge of energy transitions. The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships for excellence, his results are the subject of several publications. Following his thesis defense, he was invited to present his work in three different academic circles, and has been invited to send his thesis to McGill-Queen's University Press for publication.

What brought you to INRS and what do you remember about your experience?

I discovered INRS when I did a summer internship there during my bachelor's degree. I immediately liked the friendly atmosphere, the closeness between students and teachers, and the quality of the facilities. These are the same factors that convinced me to do a PhD there.

What I've learned from my experience is that INRS is an ideal institution for post-graduate studies. At the Centre Urbanisation Culture et Société, I benefited greatly from the wide range of subjects and disciplinary approaches on offer, the diversity and spirit of mutual support among the students, the funding opportunities, and the enriching and flexible supervision of my thesis supervisor, Sophie L. Van Neste, and her team. Van Neste, and her team at the Canada Research Chair in Urban Climate Action.

Can you describe the challenge and impact of the research presented in your doctoral thesis?

The challenge of my research was twofold. On the one hand, while there is a lot of talk today about energy transition, the perspectives put forward are mainly technical, stemming from the field of engineering. The social consequences of these transitions on urban lifestyles remain less discussed. What's more, thinking about these transitions is mainly oriented towards the future. Yet the energy systems that underpin human societies have undergone other profound changes in the past, the study of which enriches our understanding of future issues. This is why I have proposed a social and material history of urban energy transitions. I have studied the social and material consequences of these phenomena through the case of Montreal, an energy-intensive metropolis in an energy-intensive country, from 1945 to 1980, a period marked by the abundance and growth of the post-war years, and then their questioning during the energy crisis of the 1970s.

What does winning this award mean to you?

I'm really privileged to receive this award, which recognizes my work over more than four years at INRS, and as a co-tutor at Sorbonne University. The period after thesis defense is often a bit hazy, and it's easy to denigrate one's thesis and want to turn the page as quickly as possible. This prize reassures me that my thesis is worthy of interest. I'm extremely grateful for the support I've received from the entire INRS student and faculty community, as well as from the members of the administration who accompanied me during my doctorate.

What's next for you, now that you've graduated?

Since January 2024, I've been a postdoctoral researcher based at the Géographie-cités laboratory at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. My current research, funded by SSHRC and FRQSC, studies household waste incineration from a comparative perspective between Montréal and Paris. It also concerns the contamination and deindustrialization of urban energy territories.