Space, Time, and Oil

Abstract

In addition to explaining the context in which this book emerged, Carola Hein introduces the concept of the petroleumscape, a layered physical and social landscape that reinforces itself over time through human action. The petroleumscape includes different types of interconnected spaces—industrial, administrative, retail, and infrastructural—that are usually considered separately. Hein makes clear why this volume’s case studies pay careful attention to what has been highlighted, downplayed, and hidden as corporate, state, and other relevant actors have attempted to shape perceptions of petroleum and the landscape of which it is a part. Hein also outlines five key stages in the petroleumscape’s development, beginning with the innovations in obtaining petroleum that took place in Pennsylvania in 1859, when petroleum served primarily as a source of lighting fluid, and ending with recent attempts to overcome petroleum dependence.