Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Theory, Culture and Society 31 (5), 2014, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2014 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Theory, Culture and Society page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/tcs/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Combustion and Society
T2 - A Fire-Centred History of Energy Use
AU - Clark, Nigel
AU - Yusoff, Kathryn
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Theory, Culture and Society 31 (5), 2014, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2014 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Theory, Culture and Society page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/tcs/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
PY - 2014/9
Y1 - 2014/9
N2 - Fire is a force that links everyday human activities to some of the most powerful energetic movements of the Earth. Drawing together the energy-centred social theory of Georges Bataille, the fire-centred environmental history of Stephen Pyne, and the work of a number of ‘pyrotechnology’ scholars, the paper proposes that the generalized study of combustion is a key to contextualizing human energetic practices within a broader ‘economy’ of terrestrial and cosmic energy flows. We examine the relatively recent turn towards fossil-fuelled ‘internal combustion’ in the light of a much longer human history of ‘broadcast’ burning of vegetation and of artisanal pyrotechnologies – the use of heat to transform diverse materials. A combustion-centred analysis, it is argued, brings human collective life into closer contact with the geochemical and geologic conditions of earthly existence, while also pointing to the significance of explorative, experimental and even playful dispositions towards energy and matter.
AB - Fire is a force that links everyday human activities to some of the most powerful energetic movements of the Earth. Drawing together the energy-centred social theory of Georges Bataille, the fire-centred environmental history of Stephen Pyne, and the work of a number of ‘pyrotechnology’ scholars, the paper proposes that the generalized study of combustion is a key to contextualizing human energetic practices within a broader ‘economy’ of terrestrial and cosmic energy flows. We examine the relatively recent turn towards fossil-fuelled ‘internal combustion’ in the light of a much longer human history of ‘broadcast’ burning of vegetation and of artisanal pyrotechnologies – the use of heat to transform diverse materials. A combustion-centred analysis, it is argued, brings human collective life into closer contact with the geochemical and geologic conditions of earthly existence, while also pointing to the significance of explorative, experimental and even playful dispositions towards energy and matter.
KW - Anthropocene
KW - Bataille
KW - energy
KW - fire
KW - fossil fuels,
KW - pyrotechnology
U2 - 10.1177/0263276414536929
DO - 10.1177/0263276414536929
M3 - Journal article
VL - 31
SP - 203
EP - 226
JO - Theory, Culture and Society
JF - Theory, Culture and Society
SN - 1460-3616
IS - 5
ER -