The seminar explores electricity as a global technology from the first
electric bulb to today’s digitalized world. Following the history of
electricity from kilowatts to megabytes, we will examine the materiality
of electricity, its peculiarity as a form of
energy, and its use as a medium of information. In the seminar, we will
approach electrical and digital infrastructures as social, economic,
and cultural phenomena, and interrogate their relation to globalization:
How did the electric telegraph affect global
communication and the rise of global markets? How does the materiality
of electricity relate to its commodification, the emergence of electric
multinationals, and international power grids? What can we learn about
today’s globally acting Internet and Tech
companies when we look at them through the lens of their material
foundation – electricity? The seminar will suit students who are eager
to learn more about electricity as a physical phenomenon, as well as its
technical, economic and cultural forms. Readings
consist of theoretical works, classic texts, recent scholarship,
opinion-pieces and primary material (*) from around the world.
- Trainer/in: europasteuropast
- Trainer/in: KaschnerStephan
- Trainer/in: MatschkeWiebke Sophie
- Trainer/in: RußDaniela
Semester: WT 2022/23