A Useful and Protean Concept?: Energy in History

Energy has garnered much attention among historians and other scholars of society in recent years. Among the reasons for this is its analytical promise. To environmental historian Richard White, energy is “a protean and useful concept.” By following energy flows, one is able to weave together social and natural processes that are otherwise more commonly considered as separate threads. But the capaciousness of the energetic perspective presents its own challenge. In this talk, Victor Seow draws upon his book, Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia (University of Chicago Press, 2022), to offer some thoughts on the utility of centering energy in our historical and social analyses.