Conference: The Whole and its Sum: The Communication of Energy Knowledge in Contemporary History

Organized by PhD Mario Bianchini and Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Graf (both Leibniz-Center for Contemporary History Potsdam, ZZF)

Over the course of the 20th century, “energy” evolved from an arcane field of study within the natural sciences to a central concept of economic, political, and cultural discourse. As fossil fuel consumption exploded, producers of coal, oil, gas, nuclear power, hydroelectricity, wind, and solar technologies vied to deliver heat, motion, and light to increasingly energy-hungry societies. The term “energy” became the distillation for the processes of translating the capacities of these diverse sources into the work performing services essential for modern economies. As such, fuel companies cast themselves as indispensable energy providers, while citizens began to be able to view themselves as energy consumers, interpreting everyday activities through the prism of energy use. Yet, despite its centrality, the concept of energy has remained abstract and elusive, persisting as a powerful yet vague concept that still shapes policy, markets, and public imaginations. This conference will explore the genesis and development of “energy” knowledge across disparate localities, cultures, and epochs. By weaving together interdisciplinary narratives from history, economics, political science, and environmental studies, this conference asserts that understanding energy as knowledge reveals how competing visions of technological progress and resource management have fundamentally shaped modern society.

Program

Thursday, December 3rd, 2026
12:30 – 13:00 
Arrival / Coffee

13:00 – 13:30 
Greetings and Initial Remarks – Mario Bianchini and Rüdiger Graf

13:30 – 15:00 
Panel I: Theories and Practices of Energy before Energy

• Antoine Missemer – “A Multilateral History of Energy in 20th-Century Economic Knowledge”
• Anna Åberg – “Governing an Energy Ecology: The Case of the Swedish Fuel Commission During WWI”

15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break

15:30 – 17:00 
Panel II: Expanding Energies in the Boom

• Benedikt Rößler – “Hydroelectric Hopes: The Binational Salto Grande Dam Between Energy Crises, Military Dictatorships, and the Global Cold War
• Beatrice Azzola – “Dreams of Gasoline: Advertising Narratives in the Italian Refueling Landscape, 1953–1962” 

17:00 – 17:15 | Coffee Break

17:15 – 18:45 
Panel III: Theorizing Energy in the Energy Decade

• Lisa Blum – “The Energy of the Social: The “Arbeitsgruppe Umwelt, Gesellschaft, Energie” and Interdisciplinary Energy Knowledge in Cold War West Germany”
• Rune Korgaard – “Points of Futility: The Science and Politics of ‘Energy Analysis’ During the 1970s”

19:00 | Dinner in Potsdam

Friday, December 4th, 2026
09:00  – 11:15 
Panel IV: Practicing Energy in the Energy Decade

• Odinn Melsted – “From Oil to Energy: Energy Imaginaries and the Diversification of Oil Companies in the 1970s”
• Anna Maria Scognamiglio – “The Italian “Energy Problem”: On Energy Debates, Policy and Unconventional Resources in 1970s Italy”
• Thomas Turnbull – “Islands of Order: The Science and Politics of Saving Energy”

11:15 - 11:30 | Coffee Break

11:30 – 13:00 
Panel V: Energy from Eastern Perspectives 

• Rim Versteeg – “The Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and the “Friendship” Pipeline Network”
• Mario Bianchini – “Public Energy Knowledge as “Reduction” in East and West Germany during the Cold War”

13:00 – 13:30 | Lunch at ZZF

13:30 – 14:30 
Final Discussion