Global Energy and the American Dream
aka ‘Global Energy’ aka ‘GEAD’
L48 ANTHRO 3472 – Fall 2022 – T/Th – 1 - 2:20
Course blog: http://www.globalenergyandtheamericandream.blogspot.com & twitter @sls_project
This is the preliminary syllabus as of 8/30/22. However you should visit the Syllabus page on CANVAS for updates, changes, links to articles, etc.
Prof: Bret Gustafson (gustafson@wustl.edu)
Office hours: Gustafson: McMillan 332 – Tues 2:30-4
See Canvas Syllabus for TA/MTE Office Hours & Contacts
This course explores the cultural, social, and political dimensions of fossil-fuel based energy production and use in the U.S. and around the world. The fossil fuels are oil, fossil gas (aka natural gas), and coal. Humans dig up (or drill for, or pump out) and burn fossil fuels to produce energy. We will examine how fossil fuels as material things shape, and are shaped by, human lives, politics, and cultural worlds. Virtually all of the globe’s social, infrastructural and natural landscapes and histories bear the imprint of fossil fuels, from the design of cities to the crisis of climate change. Fossil fuels structure geopolitics as well, from conflict tied to climate displacement to pipeline politics to oil wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. Fossil fuels also shape our cultural desires, our sense of cultural identity, and our forms of consumption. These things have in some ways enabled what we call the ‘modern way of life.’ Yet their use depends on enactments of violence against all living things including our own bodies. On top of myriad negative social, health & environmental impacts, fossil fuel emissions are the most significant contributor to global warming. The scientific consensus suggests that we need to leave about 80% of known fossil fuel reserves underground if we are to slow planetary warming to avoid even more catastrophic effects. Yet we are currently on track to burn much more than this. What should be done?
We explore this question by first developing a critical knowledge about fossil fuels. We will trace fossil fuel extraction, processing, transport, sale and use. We will think about connections between our cultural and social lives and our use of fossil fuels. We will explore fossil fuel-linked social and political conflicts around the world. We will then return to think about change. Our approach can be characterized as political anthropology. We also draw on geography, history, literature, political ecology, sociology, political science, and – very critically – economics.
Why talk about the American Dream? The American Dream – that all might aspire to prosperity, virtually limitless consumptive aspirations, and a house in the suburbs – is a reality for a few, a myth for most, and a nightmare for the climate. The American Dream is deeply entangled in fossil fuel dependence. Consumer desires for the American Dream – suburbia, car-centric lives, SUVs and a beer fridge in the 3-car garage, huge TVs in every room – depend deeply on hyper-consumption of dirty energy. From soccer-mom commuting to hyper-cold air-conditioning to NASCAR racing, our bodies and culturally shaped desires are part of the problem. These cultural and social forms – as well as other social ills such as systemic racism and xenophobic militarism – distort the clear-headed and compassionate thinking we need for change. In this course we dissect our own lives to pursue a critical reflexivity. One of our arguments is that the cultural narrative of the ‘American Dream’ – mythic as it may be – depends on the idea that growth-dependent capitalism in the US should (or will) have limitless access to cheap fossil fuel resources. This sense of entitlement applies whether these fossil fuels are under US soil or oceans or under some far-off country. We call this “freedom”; the American way of life. But it is also, without exaggeration, an exercise in multiple forms of violence. If we acknowledge that fossil fuel dependence has violent and destructive consequences, then thinking about how to move rapidly beyond fossil fuels is the most important issue of the day.
EXAMS. No make-up exams. No early exams. Please don’t ask.
Exam 1 (45%). Thursday October 6. 50 Multiple choice questions. (First 10 lectures & Mitchell book)
Exam 2 (30%). Wednesday October 23. 40 Multiple choice questions. (7 lectures, Bosworth book)
Exam 3 (25%). Thursday, December 8 (last day of class, in class). 30 Multiple choice questions (5 lectures, Malm book)
PLAGIARISM: Any kind or degree of plagiarism or academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the course.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Mitchell, Timothy. 2013. Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil. London: Verso. 978-1781681169.
Malm, Andreas. 2021. How to Blow up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire. London: Verso. 978-1839760259.
Bosworth, Kai. Pipeline Populism: Grassroots Environmentalism in the Twenty-First Century. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 978-1517911065.
NOTE:
I have a critical perspective on the fossil fuel industry as well as the politicians and capitalists who back it. I will share that perspective in this class. This is a position, not a bias. I develop my arguments, as all scholars do, through consideration of empirically verifiable facts and consideration of multiple interpretations, as well as implications for normative action – meaning personal, collective, or policy-oriented change. You are welcome to disagree on interpretations and implications for action, but not on facts. You will be graded not on agreement with me, but on adherence to empirically verifiable facts as addressed in the lectures and readings. The best way to earn an A is: come to class, take notes, do the readings, take notes, ask questions in class when given an opportunity and come see me or the TAs/MTEs to discuss whenever you want.
Supplementary Information Provided by the College, Please read: Covid Policy & Policy on Sexual Harassment
Lecture Topics – Tuesdays and Thursdays | Book Readings for the week See syllabus for additional articles. | |
Part i: Fossil Fuels: (Un)Freedom & (Anti)Democracy |
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8/30 Introduction | 9/1 Fossil Fuels: The Basics |
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9/6 U.S. Oil History | 9/8 Automobility & (Un)Freedom | Mitchell, Carbon DemocracyChs. Introduction & 1-2 |
9/13 Cheap Gasoline & (Un)Freedom | 9/15 Driving While Black | Carbon Democracy, Chs 3-5 |
9/20 Driving While Not Male | 9/22 Fossil Militarism & the Middle East | Carbon Democracy, Chs 6-7 |
9/27 Fossil Militarism and the U.S. - Saudi Arabia Relationship | 9/29 Fossil Militarism & The US-Israel-Palestine Relationship | Carbon Democracy, Ch. 8, concl. |
10/4 Book Discussion/Review | 10/6 EXAM #1 |
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Part II: Fossil Fuels: Imperialism, Nationalism, Colonialism, and Toxicity |
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10/11 Fall Break | 10/13 Venezuela | Bosworth |
10/18 Canada and the Tar Sands | 10/20 Pipeline Politics (I) – Keystone XL | Bosworth |
10/25 Fracking | 10/27 Pipeline Politics (II) – #NoDAPL | Bosworth |
11/1 Dirty Coal | 11/3 TBD | Finish Bosworth |
11/8 Book Discussion/Review | 11/10 EXAM #2 |
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Part III: Fossil Politics: What is to Be Done? |
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11/15 Oiligarchy & US Politics | 11/17 Is Missouri a Coaligarchy? | Malm, Preface & Ch. 1 (0-64) |
11/22 WUSTL ❤️ Coal 💰💰💰 | 11/24 Thanksgiving | Malm, Chapter 2 (65-132) |
11/29 Can Congress Do Anything? (IRA, ptII) | 12/1 What is to be Done? | Finish Malm (133-162) |
12/6 Book Discussion/Review | 12/8 EXAM #3 |
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Lectures, Readings, and Assignments – Articles on CANVAS – Keep up with news on the blog
*Asterisk = REQUIRED, others supplementary
Part 1. Fossil Fuels and American (Un)Freedom
T 8/30 Introduction: Five Forms of Violence: Fossil Energy and the American Dream
Th 9/1 Fossil Fuels: Some Basics
Nader, Laura. 1981. “Barriers to Thinking New about Energy.” Physics Today 34, no. 2: 9.
T 9/6 American Oil History
Burrough, Brian. 2008. “The Man Who Was Texas” at Vanity Fair (on Glenn McCarthy).
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/10/oil_excerpt200810?printable=true¤tPage=all.
“The Mike Wallace Interview” of Glenn McCarthy, July 21, 1957. Video from the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. https://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15878coll90/id/17/rec/1
If you are a movie buff, put Giant in your queue.
Th 9/8 Automobility
*Urry, John. 2004. The System of Automobility. Theory, Culture, Society 21(4/5):25-39.
By today you should be through chapter 2 of Carbon Democracy
T 9/13 Cheap Gas & (Un)Freedom
*Huber, Matthew. 2009. The Use of Gasoline: Value, Oil, and the American Way of Life. Antipode 41(3): 465-486.
Film recommendation: Who Killed the Electric Car? & then Revenge of the Electric Car
Th 9/15 Driving While Black
*Sorin, Gretchen. 2020. “Introduction” and “The Journey” in Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights. New York: Liveright.
*Gilroy, Paul. 2001. “Driving While Black”. In Car Cultures. Edited by Daniel Miller. New York: Routledge.
By today you should be through chapter 5 of Carbon Democracy
T 9/20 Driving While Other Than Male: Automobility, Gender, Sexuality
*Devereaux, Cecily. 2017. “Made for Mankind: Cars, Cosmetics, and the Petrocultural Feminine.” In Petrocultures: Oil, Politics, Culture. Edited by Sheena Wilson, et. al. McGill: Queen’s University Press.
Th 9/22 Fossil Militarism and the Middle East, w Brief Comments on Ukraine and Russia
Jones, Toby. 2012. “America, Oil, and War in the Middle East.” Journal of American History 12:208-218.
By today you should be through chapter 7 of Carbon Democracy
T 9/27 Fossil Militarism and The US-Saudi Relationship
Le Billon, Phillippe; and Fouad El Khatib. 2004. From Free Oil to “Freedom Oil”: Terrorism, War and US Geopolitics in the Persian Gulf. Geopolitics 9(1):109-137.
Film recommendation: Syriana
Th 9/29 Fossil Militarism and the US-Israel-Palestine Relationship
*Visit https://www.btselem.org, an Israeli human rights organization and read “This is Apartheid” (https://www.btselem.org/topic/apartheid), especially the “Illustrated Explainer” (https://thisisapartheid.btselem.org/eng/#1). You should also check out Amnesty International (2021): “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians” (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/) and Human Rights Watch (2021): “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution” (https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution).
To understand better the relevance of the Palestine-Israel issue and the US role therein to oil, militarism, climate change, and global energy politics, make sure you have read Mitchell, but on this question in particular: pp:155-162; all of Chapter 7, esp. 181-186; 214-220. By today you should be all the way done with Carbon Democracy
T 10/4 Review & Book Discussion: Carbon Democracy
Th 10/6 Exam #1
T 10/11 Fall Break!
Part II: Fossil Fuels Abroad and at Home: Imperialism, Nationalism, Colonialism, and Toxicity
th 10/13 Latin America, Oil, and the United States: A Brief Tour
*“Standard Oil Co.” by Pablo Neruda. http://movingpoems.com/2009/03/standard-oil-co/
M Humphreys, J Sachs, and Joseph Stiglitz, “What is the Problem with Natural Resource Wealth?” In Humphreys,M., Stiglitz, J. and J. Sachs, eds. Escaping the Resource Curse, Chapter 1 pp.1-21.
T 10/18 Canada and the Tar Sands
Zalik, Anna (2011). "Protest as Violence in Oilfields: The Contested Representation of Profiteering in Two Extractive Sites" in S. Feldman, C. Geisler and G. Menon (eds) Accumulating Insecurity. Athens, University of Georgia Press. p 261-284.
Th 10/20 Pipeline Politics I: The Keystone XL, dead or alive?
By today you should have read through Intro, Chs 1 and 2 of Pipeline Populism
T 10/25 Fracking: A Toxic socio-technical assemblage
Recommended films: Gasland & Gasland II
Th 10/27 Pipeline Politics II: #NoDAPL
Watch “Drone Warriors and the NoDAPL Movement” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2w7Yu-OdVw
Read: Brave NoiseCat, Julian, and Anne Spice. 2016. A History and Future of Resistance. Jacobin
Watch: Awake (trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czd-VP6dlxA)
By today you should have read through Ch 3 and 4 of Pipeline Populism
T 11/1 Dirty Coal
By today you should have finished up Pipeline Populism
Th 11/3 TBD
T 11/8 Book discussion and exam Review
Th 11/10 Exam #2
Part III: Fossil Politics: What is to Be Done?
T 11/15 Oiligarchy and US Politics
Th 11/17 Is Missouri a Coaligarchy? Guest Lecture: Michael Berg, Sierra Club
By today you should have read through Preface and Ch. 1 of Pipeline Populism
T 11/22 WUSTL ❤️ Coal 💰💰💰
*Gustafson, Bret. 2011. Fossil Knowledge Networks: Industry Strategy, Public Culture, and the Challenge for Critical Research. In Flammable Societies: Studies on the Socio-economics of Oil and Gas. JA MacNeish and Owen Logan, eds. London: Pluto Press.
*Khalil, Hanna. 2019. On the 2014 Students Against Peabody Movement at Washington University in St. Louis
By today you should have read through Ch. 3 of Pipeline Populism
Th 11/24 No Class – Thanksgiving Break
T 11/29 Can Congress do Anything? Thinking about Biden’s I.R.A.
Th 12/1 What is to be Done? The Direct Action Debate
T 12/6 Book Discussion & Review
Th 12/8 Exam #3
Fall 2022: Covid Plan: If COVID interferes with your course activities, we will
make arrangements as needed, but I will need documentation.
The Provost has asked all faculty to include the following material in their syllabi:
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