Energy and Equity

Ivan Illich

• Publisher: Marion Boyars
• Year: 1974
• Print ISBN: 9780714510583
• eBook ISBN: 9780714521008
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

A junkie without access to his stash is in a state of crisis. The "energy crisis' that exists intermittently when the flow of fuel from unstable countries is cut off or threatened, is a crisis in the same sense. When such a crisis is perceived in the western sphere, there are normally two solutions proposed: Relieve our dependence on foreign fuels by developing "ecologically friendly' energy extraction technology, or send an army to pacify the fuel-rich region in question. Both of these paths, seemingly at odds with each other, take as fundamentally true a certain proposition, that in no circumstances should we use less energy than we already use. In this conception, all human problems must be solved by the impressment of still more "energy slaves' to meet the expanding demand of human masters. The two solutions consist of securing the current source of the drug, or finding a different, more secure pusher. In this essay, Illich examines the question of whether or not humans need any more energy than is their natural birthright. Along the way he gives a startling analysis of the marginal disutility of tools. After a certain point, that is, more energy gives negative returns. For example, moving around causes loss of time proportional to the amount of energy which is poured into the transport system, so that the speed of the fastest traveller correlates inversely to the equality as well as freedom of the median traveller.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Seminars on ‘Alternatives to Acceleration in the Improvement of Traffic’ and on ‘The History of Thermodynamics Applied to Personal Transportation’ are meeting at CIDOC in Cuernavaca during 1974 and 1975. The following list has been culled from the seminar library. Only those titles have been quoted which, besides having proved useful in past sessions of the seminar, could easily be overlooked by those who might wish to pursue the line of inquiry followed in this essay.

ALBION, R. G., Naval and Maritime History, An Annotated Bibliography. Mystic, The Marine Hist. Assn. Conn. 1972.

ANDERSON, Romola and Roger, The Sailing Ship: Six ThousandYears of History. London, Harrap, 1926.

BANKS, Arthur S., Cross-Polity Times Series Data. Cambridge, Mass.; MIT, 1971.

BARKIN, David, ‘El consumo y la vía chilena al socialismo; reflexiones en torno a la decisión automotriz’. Versión Preliminar. Centro de Estudios Socio-Económicos, Santiago de Chile, 1972. (Available from CIDOC Library.)

BERNSTEIN, M. T., Steamboats on the Ganges. Bombay, Orient Longmans, 1960.

BIVAR, A. D. H., ‘The Stirrup and Its Origins’. Oriental Art, vol. I, 1955, pp. 61–65.

BLAISDEL, R. et al., Sources of Information in Transportation. Evanston, Ill., Northwestern University Press (The Transportation Center), 1964.

BOWDEN, Frank Philip, Art. on ‘Friction’ in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 9, pp. 840A–841.

BRANCH, Melville C., Comprehensive Urban Planning: A Selected Annotated Bibliography with Related Materials. Sage Publications, 1973. For material on transportation, cf. pp. 251–272.

BRAUDEL, Fernand, ‘La Lenteur des Transports’ in Civilisation Materielle et Capitalisme, XV-XVIII Siècle, pp. 314–329. Paris, Armand Colin, 1967.

——. ‘Vicissitudes des Routes’ in La Méditerranée et le Monde Mediterranéen, pp. 242–259. Paris, Armand Colin, 1949.

BRUNOT, Ferdinand, Histoire de la Langue Française des Origines a nos Jours. For references to ‘transport’, cf. esp. tome VI, pp. 357–360 and tome VII, pp. 201–231.

BUCHANAN, C. D., Mixed Blessing: The Motor Car in Britain. London, 1958.

BUFFET, B., L’Eau Potable à travers les Ages. Liege, 1950.

CAUNTER, C. F., The History and Development of the Cycles, As Illustrated by the Collection of Cycles in the Science Museum. London, 1955.

CAVAILLES, Henri, La Route Française, son Histoire. Paris, 1946.

CHERMAYEFF, Serge, and TZONIS, Alexander, Shape of Community. Penguin, 1971.

CLAXTON, E. C., ‘The Future of the Bicycle in a Modern Society’. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, January, 1968, pp. 114–135.

COOK, Walter L., Bike Trails and Facilities: A Guide to Their Design, Construction and Operation. Wheeling, W.Va., American Institute of Park Executives, 1965.

COPELAND, John, Roads and Their Traffic, 1750–1858. Newton Abbot, 1968.

DAVENAS, Paul, Les Messageries Royales. Paris, 1937.

DEFFONTAINES, P., ‘Sur la Reparticion Géographique des Voitures à Deux Roues et à Quatre Roues’. Traveaux du Premier Congrès Internacional de Folklore, Paris 1937, p. 117 ff. Arbault, Tours, 1938.

DEISCHEL, Erwin, Umweltbeanspruchung und Umweltschaeden durch den Verkehr in der BDR, Munich, 1971.

DOLLFUS, C., Historie de la...

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the Series
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• FOREWORD
• THE ENERGY CRISIS
• THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF TRAFFIC
• SPEED-STUNNED IMAGINATION
• NET TRANSFER OF LIFETIME
• THE INEFFECTIVENESS OF ACCELERATION
• THE RADICAL MONOPOLY OF INDUSTRY
• THE ELUSIVE THRESHOLD
• DEGREES OF SELF-POWERED MOBILITY
• DOMINANT V. SUBSIDIARY MOTORS
• UNDEREQUIPMENT, OVERDEVELOPMENT AND MATURE TECHNOLOGY
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright