Stains of Empire: accumulation by contamination in the Gulf
Since the discovery of oil in the Gulf, the military-industrial complex has expanded the scale and scope of capital accumulation.
Oil
Energy imperialism? Introduction to the special issue
In this special issue, we reflect on the relations between energy systems and imperialism via multiple expressions: the role of oil in international relations, the global economy, and the post-colonial world; the problem of waste created by the oil industry; the relations between capitalism and i
Transnational capital markets and development policies: the OPEC countries, the Eurocurrency markets, and the LDCs from the 1960s to the 1970s
In the wake of a recent literature in international banking and financial history focused on the role of western commercial banks in placing the OPEC nations' assets with international borrowers, this article examines the role of leading Wall Street American banks in reflowing the investments of
“Jumped on the boat of a territorialist organization”: State and capital at the origins of oil imperialism
Modern imperialism springs from the interaction of the geopolitical and economic logics. The international oil industry offers an ideal case study of this connection. The links between nation states and multinational oil companies have been close and mutually advantageous.
Oil and the Great Powers: Britain and Germany, 1914 to 1945 (Anand Toprani, 2019)
Anand Toprani’s, Oil and the Great Powers: Britain and Germany, 1914 to 1945 (Oxford University Press, 2019)
Oil, dollars, and US power in the 1970s: re-viewing the connections
Petrodollars – the dollars accumulated by oil-producing countries as revenues for oil exports – are usually considered key to our understanding of the renewal and transformation of US power during the 1970s.
Toward histories of saving energy: Erich Walter Zimmermann and the struggle against “one-sided materialistic determinism”
While energy use has appeared historically consequent for most of human history, it now seems energy non-use may determine our future. It is clear that the worst effects of climate change can only be averted if vast quantities of fossil fuels go unburnt.
Building 'oil' in British India: a category, an infrastructure
This paper traces the history of oil being reined in by the British Raj, from the 1870s to the early 20th C. I argue that oil is not a self-evident object, but a category built by regimes of thought.
Life in the oilfields: Unveiling new sources for social history of French hydrocarbon industry
The major challenge to research on hydrocarbon history is the accessibility of archival sources. Among other factors, the restricted access to corporate records has limited the field of exploration of the discipline so far.
Condeeps. The dinosaurs of the north sea
When oil was found in water depths larger than 150 meters in the North Sea in the 1970s, a new and revolutionary concept was needed to be able to support deck structures for production of petroleum.