
Energizing Neoliberalism
The 1970s Energy Crisis and the Making of Modern America
Caleb Wellum(Author)
Johns Hopkins University Press
Published on 17. October 2023
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-4214-4718-6 (ISBN)
Description
How the 1970s energy crisis facilitated a neoliberal shift in US political culture.
In Energizing Neoliberalism, Caleb Wellum offers a provocative account of how the 1970s energy crisis helped to recreate postwar America. Rather than think of the crisis as the obvious outcome of the decade's "oil shocks," Wellum unpacks the cultural construction of a crisis of energy across different sectors of society, from presidents, policy experts, and environmentalists to filmmakers, economists, and oil futures traders. He shows how the dominant meanings ascribed to the 1970s energy crisis helped to energize neoliberal visions of renewed abundance and power through free market values and approaches to energy.
Deeply researched in federal archives, expert discourse, and popular culture, Energizing Neoliberalism demonstrates the central role that energy crisis narratives played in America's neoliberal turn. Wellum traces the roots of the crisis to the consumption practices and cultural narratives spawned by the petrocultural politics of Cold War capitalism. In a series of illuminating case studies-including 1970s energy conservation debates, popular car films, and the creation of oil futures trading-Wellum chronicles the consolidation of a neoliberal capitalist order in the United States through an energy politics marked by anxious futurity, petro-populist sentiment, and financialized energy markets. He shows how experiences of energy shortages and fears of future energy crises unsettled American national identity and power yet also informed Reagan-era confidence in free markets and US global leadership.
In taking a cultural approach to the 1970s energy crisis, Wellum offers a challenging meditation on the status of "crisis" in modern history, contemporary life, and critical thought and how we rely on crises to make sense of the world.
In Energizing Neoliberalism, Caleb Wellum offers a provocative account of how the 1970s energy crisis helped to recreate postwar America. Rather than think of the crisis as the obvious outcome of the decade's "oil shocks," Wellum unpacks the cultural construction of a crisis of energy across different sectors of society, from presidents, policy experts, and environmentalists to filmmakers, economists, and oil futures traders. He shows how the dominant meanings ascribed to the 1970s energy crisis helped to energize neoliberal visions of renewed abundance and power through free market values and approaches to energy.
Deeply researched in federal archives, expert discourse, and popular culture, Energizing Neoliberalism demonstrates the central role that energy crisis narratives played in America's neoliberal turn. Wellum traces the roots of the crisis to the consumption practices and cultural narratives spawned by the petrocultural politics of Cold War capitalism. In a series of illuminating case studies-including 1970s energy conservation debates, popular car films, and the creation of oil futures trading-Wellum chronicles the consolidation of a neoliberal capitalist order in the United States through an energy politics marked by anxious futurity, petro-populist sentiment, and financialized energy markets. He shows how experiences of energy shortages and fears of future energy crises unsettled American national identity and power yet also informed Reagan-era confidence in free markets and US global leadership.
In taking a cultural approach to the 1970s energy crisis, Wellum offers a challenging meditation on the status of "crisis" in modern history, contemporary life, and critical thought and how we rely on crises to make sense of the world.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
6 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 7 s/w Zeichnungen
7 Line drawings, black and white; 6 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
587 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4214-4718-6 (9781421447186)
DOI
10.56021/9781421447186
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2023
Johns Hopkins University Press
€61.49
Available for download
Person
Caleb Wellum (HAMILTON, ON) is an assistant professor of US history at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Energy in Crisis
Chapter 1. "Is America Running Out of Gas?": Assembling the Energy Crisis
Chapter 2. "A Time to Choose": Interpreting the Energy Crisis
Chapter 3. "A Vibrant National Preoccupation": The Energy Conservation Ethic and Market Forces
Chapter 4. "Put Your Foot on the Pedal": Contesting Conservation in Seventies Car Cinema
Chapter 5. "Markets Born of Shocks": NYMEX Oil Futures, Financialization, and Neoliberal Narratives
Epilogue. Enduring Crisis
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction. Energy in Crisis
Chapter 1. "Is America Running Out of Gas?": Assembling the Energy Crisis
Chapter 2. "A Time to Choose": Interpreting the Energy Crisis
Chapter 3. "A Vibrant National Preoccupation": The Energy Conservation Ethic and Market Forces
Chapter 4. "Put Your Foot on the Pedal": Contesting Conservation in Seventies Car Cinema
Chapter 5. "Markets Born of Shocks": NYMEX Oil Futures, Financialization, and Neoliberal Narratives
Epilogue. Enduring Crisis
Notes
Bibliography
Index