Fueling Mexico: Energy, Environment, and the Transition to a Fossil-Fueled Society, 1850-1950
Germán Vergara specializes in Latin American and environmental history. Working within a global perspective, his research and teaching explore the role of the environment, animals, energy regimes, intellectual traditions, and industrial capitalism in Latin American history.
His book manuscript, Fueling Mexico: Energy, Environment, and the Transition to a Fossil-Fueled Society, 1850-1950, examines how and why modern Mexico transitioned from an agrarian society powered by animal muscle, water, and wood to a fossil-fueled industrial society. Within a century, Mexico went from an energy regime based on dispersed solar energy accumulated in plants and human and animal muscle to one based on the concentrated ancient sunlight trapped in fossil fuels.
Presented by the Kellogg Institute Latin American History Working Group with cosponsorship by Sustainability Studies.
This is a work-in-progress workshop, and a pre-circulated paper will be available for attendees. For the pre-circulated paper, contact Karen Graubart: kgraubar@nd.edu
The Latin American History Working Group brings together Latin American historians—both faculty and graduate students—for serious, extended, and creative intellectual exchange. Monthly meetings feature paper presentations by faculty members, graduate students, and invited scholars. Encouraging an interdisciplinary approach, the group aims to strengthen the growing community of Latin American historians at Notre Dame, to professionalize its graduate students, and to host notable scholars in the field at the University.
Cochairs: Ted Beatty, Karen Graubart, and Jaime Pensado