To Consolidate Peace'? The International Electro-technical Community and the Grid for the United States of Europe

Bibliographic Data

ID10073666
AuthorsVincent Lagendijk (0000-0001-7878-1183, Leiden University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume47
Issue2
Pages402-426
Publication date2012-03-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022009411431722
OpenAlexW1998096965
LanguageEN
Citations received5

Why did engineers and policy-makers together argue for a European electricity network? This article shows, first, how ideas of European cooperation were conceived in both circles, and second, how the two came together in an alliance that brought the idea for European grid into the League of Nations (LoN) and International Labour Organization. Non-government organizations in the field of electricity acted as intermediary platforms, and close links between some engineers and politicians enabled a next step. It argues furthermore that such an alliance was made possible through a set of shared ideas, stressing technical networks as an extension of international politics, viewing ‘Europe’ as an obvious unit of optimization, and relying on a ‘technical’ approach rather than political consultation

Alliance · Economics · Electrical engineering · Electricity · European community · Field (mathematics · Government (linguistics · Grid · International trade · League · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Unit (ring theory · Computer Science · Engineering · Law · Public Administration · Twentieth Century Scientific Developments

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