Paper short abstract:

A study conducted in France in 2011-2012 at a time of high energy prices about the energetical choices made by the household in their everyday life has led us to question the energy choices made and their origin which are both political and economic.

Paper long abstract:

Energy infrastructure shapes the crafting of modern states and corporations, identities and sociabilities, habits and mentalities, expert and local knowledge, households and communities. A study conducted in France in 2011-2012 at a time of high energy prices about the energetical choices made by the household in their everyday life has led us to question the energy choices made and their origin which are both political and economic. In this presentation we want to question the govern-mentality of energy, that is, the discursive and symbolic dimensions of energy, their historical incorporation in the body politic and their implication on every life. This will lead us to question what a critical theory of energy possibly look like.