Energy Transitions and Social Change in the Twentieth Century

Due to the excessive burning of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution, climate change has emerged as one of the biggest political, social, and economic challenges of our time. Hence, energy has also become an increasingly “hot topic” for political and social scientists as well as historians or anthropologists. Looking at critical junctures in the history of the production and consumption of energy in the long twentieth century, we will examine the interdependencies between technological innovation and socio-economic change. How did energy production and consumption affect the social fabric and forms of political representation in certain countries and which economic, social, and cultural conditions favored or hindered energy transitions? Asking these questions, we will try to determine if and in how far the history of energy can shed new light on social, political, and cultural history.