Energy in the Americas

Critical Reflections on Energy and History

Edited by Amelia M. Kiddle
Categories: History
Series: ISSN
Publisher: University of Calgary Press
Paperback : 9781552389393, 416 pages, October 2021

Table of contents

Tables

Figures
Acknowledgements

Introduction
“When Will We See the Pendulum Effect?” Critical Reflections on Energy and History in the Americas
Amelia M. Kiddle

Unpacking Latin American Oil and Gas Policies: Views on Energy as a Market, Common, and Political Good
Pablo Heidrich

Primary Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Chile, 1844–2010
César Yáñez Gallardo

The Commercial and Political Dynamics of the Crude Oil Industry: The Case of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group in Venezuela, 1913–1924
Brian S. McBeth

Exxon and the Rise of Producer Power in Venezuela
Joseph A. Pratt

Current Concerns: Canadian–United States Energy Relations and the St. Lawrence and Niagara Megaprojects
Daniel Macfarlane

Tellico Dam, Dickey Dam, and Endangered Species Law in the United States during the 1970s
Michael Camp

Seismic Innovations: The Digital Revolution in the Search for Oil and Gas
Tyler Priest

Optimism, Fear, and Free Trade: Canada’s Winding Path to a Globalized Petroleum Industry, 1930–2005
Paul Chastko

The New Political Economy of Petroleum in Brazil: Back to the Future?
Gail D. Triner

The Expropriation of YPF in Historical Perspective. Limits of State Power Intervention in Argentina, 1989–2015
Esteban Serrani

Coming Full Circle: Mexican Oil, 1917–2018
Linda B. Hall

The Neoliberal Transformation of Colombia’s Energy Sector and Some Implications for Democratization in the Post-conflict Period
Dermot O’Connor and Juan Pablo Bohórquez Montoya

List of Contributors
Bibliography

Energy in the Americas provides a hemispheric perspective on the historical construction of contmpoerary debates on the role of energy in society

Description

Understanding the history of energy and the evolving place of energy in society is essential to facing the changing future of energy production. Across North and South America, national and localized understandings of energy as a common, public, or market good have influenced the development of energy industries.

Energy in the Americas brings the diverse energy histories of North and South American nations into dialogue with one another, presenting an integrated hemispheric framework for understanding the historical constructions of contemporary debates on the role of energy in society. Rejecting pat truisms, this collection historicizes the experiences of producers and policymakers and assesses the interplay between environmental, technological, political, and ideological influences within and between countries and continents.

Breaking down assumptions about the evolution of national energy histories, Energy in the Americas broadens and opens the conversation. De-emphasizing the traditional focus on national peculiarities, it favours an international, integrated approach that brings together the work of established and emerging scholars. This is an essential step in understanding the circumstances that have created current energy policy and practice, and the historical narratives that underpin how energy production is conceptualized and understood.