Energizing Neoliberalism: The 1970s Energy Crisis and the Making of Modern America

The 1970s energy crisis facilitated a neoliberal shift in US political culture by creating a sense of anxious futurity and petro-populist sentiment. This crisis was constructed across different sectors of society, and its dominant meanings helped to energize neoliberal visions of renewed abundance and power through free market values and approaches to energy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 17 October 2023
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

The 1970s energy crisis played a significant role in facilitating a neoliberal shift in US political culture. In his book, Energizing Neoliberalism, Caleb Wellum offers a provocative account of how the crisis was culturally constructed across various sectors of society. Rather than viewing it as merely the result of oil shocks, Wellum delves into the ways in which dominant meanings attributed to the energy crisis helped to energize neoliberal visions of renewed abundance and power through free market values and approaches to energy.

Wellum's research is extensive, drawing from federal archives, expert discourse, and popular culture. He demonstrates the central role that energy crisis narratives played in America's neoliberal turn. The book traces the roots of the crisis to the consumption practices and cultural narratives spawned by the petrocultural politics of Cold War capitalism. Through a series of illuminating case studies, including debates on energy conservation in the 1970s, popular car films, and the creation of oil futures trading, Wellum chronicles the consolidation of a neoliberal capitalist order in the United States.

One of the key insights of the book is how experiences of energy shortages and fears of future energy crises unsettled American national identity and power, yet also informed Reagan-era confidence in free markets and US global leadership. Wellum argues that the crisis was used as a tool to justify government interventions in the energy sector, such as deregulation and privatization, which ultimately served to reinforce the power of corporations and further entrench neoliberal policies.

Energizing Neoliberalism offers a challenging meditation on the status of crisis in modern history, contemporary life, and critical thought. Wellum challenges the notion that crises are always negative and destructive, arguing that they can also be opportunities for social and political change. He suggests that the 1970s energy crisis facilitated a shift in public discourse and consciousness that paved the way for the rise of neoliberalism and the subsequent decline of social welfare programs.

Overall, Energizing Neoliberalism is a thought-provoking and insightful book that provides a new perspective on the 1970s energy crisis and its impact on US political culture. Wellum's cultural approach to the crisis offers valuable insights into the ways in which dominant meanings and narratives shape our understanding of crises and their consequences.

Weight: 499g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781421447186