Fossil Fuels and Sociotechnical Institutions
Fossil fuels were discovered, and this resulted in the growth of sociotechnical institutions, political influence, and financial exchange. The oil discovery could bring democracy and economic development to the producers or it could fuel political unrest and violence.
Principal Query Addressed by the Author
What is the principal query that the author is attempting to address?
Change in Interaction and Key Questions
How did the interaction between elements like finance, energy, democracy, economic knowledge, and violence change throughout the Middle East Crisis between 1967 and 1974 are the key questions; what are the ways through which the control and circulation of energy flow open countries to democratic possibilities or close their economic growth.
Main Argument of the Author
What is the author’s main argument?
The author argues that oils is a good resource since the countries producing it derives economic and political life, therefore, it should not be perceived to be the source of political conflict and violence.
Important Concepts and Theories Presented
What important concepts and theories are presented?
The author uses the theory of democracy to stipulate that countries, which got industrialized in the 20th centuries, resulted from the concentration and control of energy since the world lacked adequate hydrocarbon and socio-technical arrangement to extract and distribute the available energy. The author used the concept of democracy to depict that democracy is a universal principal reproduced in the process of democratization. Therefore, if it fails in oil states, it means the universal element is missing not the resource.
Relevance to Other Readings and Course Themes
What relevance does this text have to the other readings for the week, or themes presented in this course?
This article is relevant since it depicts that if a country fails to use their natural resources in order to realize economic and political growth and rather use it to gain political supremacy, there would be no democracy and life sustainability.
Explicit Methodology Used by the Author
Does the author discuss an explicit methodology to answer their questions? If so, what?
The author used New Deal and Keynesian to answer the questions. The method provide information related to populist politics, financial crisis in 1929,capitalism, and labor (Mitchell 416)
Conveying the Argument, Weaknesses, and Strengths
Does the author effectively convey their argument? What are the weaknesses of the article/chapter? What are its strengths?
The author effectively conveys the argument. The strengths include the use of general democracy theory and reviewing other articles to support her argument. Its weaknesses include using outdated articles to inform current audience and failure to explain economical terms.
Discussion Questions
Identify 2 questions for a class discussion
- Could the international market stabilize the oil prices?
- Why superpowers such as the US are using geopolitical factors to assist oil producer countries achieving democracy?
