Petrocultures: Oil, Politics, Culture

The collection represents a major contribution to research on the cultural dimensions of the extractive economies of fossil fuel." Stephanie LeMenager, University of Oregon. "Offering a diverse collection of historical, geographical, and literary scholarship, Petrocultures expands the reach of the Energy Humanities and helps to solidify Canadian leadership in this interdisciplinary venture

Contemporary life is founded on oil a cheap, accessible, and rich source of energy that has shaped cities and manufacturing economies at the same time that it has increased mobility, global trade, and environmental devastation. Contributors’ essays investigate the discourses surrounding oil in contemporary culture while advancing and configuring new ways to discuss the cultural ecosystem that it has created. This collection of essays shows that oil’s vast network of social and historical narratives and the processes that enable its extraction are what characterize its importance, and that its