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Keep Your Dirty Lights On: Electrification and the Ideological Origins of Energy Exceptionalism in American Society

French, Daniel A
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417854034

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, History.
Electricity has been defined by American society as a modern and clean form of energy since it came into practical use at the end of the nineteenth century, yet no comprehensive study exists which examines the roots of these definitions. This dissertation considers the social meanings of electricity as an energy technology that became adopted between the mid-nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth centuries. Arguing that both technical and cultural factors played a role, this study shows how electricity became an abstracted form of energy in the mind of Americans. As technological advancements allowed for an increasing physical distance between power generation and power consumption, the commodity of electricity became consciously detached from the steam and coal that produced it. This factor, along with cultural factors led the public to define electricity as mysterious, utopian, and an alternative to proximal fire-based energy sources. With its adoption occurring simultaneously with Progressivism and consumerism, electricity use was encouraged and seen as a integral part of improvement and modernity which led Americans to culturally construct electricity as unlimited and environmentally inconsequential.
Diane Britton, PhD (Committee Chair)
Peter Linebaugh, PhD (Committee Member)
Kim Nielsen, PhD (Committee Member)
Daryl Moorhead, PhD (Committee Member)
238 p.
History; Technology
electrification; history of technology; climate change; American energy attitudes; history of energy; electricity and culture, intellectual history; environmental history, American technological history; history of coal; history of power grid

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • French, D. A. (2014). Keep Your Dirty Lights On: Electrification and the Ideological Origins of Energy Exceptionalism in American Society [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417854034

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • French, Daniel. Keep Your Dirty Lights On: Electrification and the Ideological Origins of Energy Exceptionalism in American Society. 2014. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417854034.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • French, Daniel. "Keep Your Dirty Lights On: Electrification and the Ideological Origins of Energy Exceptionalism in American Society." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417854034

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1417854034
1,893
© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.