Energy Imperialism? Resources, power and environment

We will present the volume "Energy Imperialism?", a special issue of the “Journal of Energy Issue” published in September 2020. The volume reflects on the relations between energy systems and imperialism via multiple expressions: the role of oil in international relations, the global economy, and the post-colonial world; the problem of waste created by the oil industry; the relations between capitalism and imperialism, and the role of the energy industry in fuelling these structures and these relations since the second wave of European colonisation. Through the adoption of a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective across different periods and geographical areas, we deconstruct the mythology of oil imperialism to highlight the nodes in which energy systems have an actual influence on the course of history, and ultimately in shaping societies.