RT Journal Article
T1 Making Material and Cultural Connections
A1 Heather Chappells
A1 Hiroki Shin
YR 2018
VO 9
IS Spring 2018
K1 electrification
K1  energy history
K1  electrical appliances
K1  energy consumption
K1  material culture
K1  households
K1  domestic life
AB This article explores how material and cultural ‘connections’ to households were crucial in defining historical pathways of domestic electrification in Canada and Japan. Though relatively overlooked in the history of energy, we contend that the intricacies of household connections are important in understanding convergence and divergence in electrified ways of life. Electricity’s arrival in urban and rural homes was an uneven process in part due to geographical diversity and the variable connection policies of public or private providers. Selective insights from our two countries show that spatial irregularities in grid expansion and social inequities in the meaning of electrical service further arose out of misalignments between developers’ visions and the diverse material cultures of households. This disparity manifested in the form of disconnections between non-standard wiring and equipment, as well as in the form of consumer resistance, protests and even illicit acts as people fought to get the electrical service they desired. Instead of seeing electrification as a single, universal ideal around which all countries eventually converged, we conclude that it has always been an open-ended, negotiable and culturally fluid process.
PB The Science Museum Group
SN 2054-5770
LA eng
DO 10.15180/180904
UL http://journal.sciencemuseum.org.uk/browse/issue-09/making-material-and-cultural-connections/
CR Abe, R, 1928, Toyama Dento Sogi no Sinso (Osaka: Domae Jimusho)
CR Ackrich, M, 1992, ‘The De-Scription of Technical Objects’, in Bijker, E and Law, J (eds), Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press)
CR Alberta Power Commission, 1965, ‘Report on Rural Electrification’ (Calgary: Glenbow Archives)
CR Baghel, R, 2014, River Control in India: Spatial, Governmental and Subjective Dimensions (Heidelberg: Springer)
CR Beck, A, 1923 ‘Address by Sir Adam Beck’ at the Public Ownership Conference, HEPC of Ontario (Toronto, Ontario)
CR B C Electric, 1930, Letter from citizens of Saanich to B.C Electric Manager’, 1 February
CR B C Electric, 1940a, ‘Make Your Home All Electric’, Colonist, 21 April
CR B C Electric, 1940b, ‘Take Advantage of These Services’, Colonist, 17 March
CR B C Electric, 1945, ‘Storm or Shine B.C. Electric’s interconnected power system assures you dependable service’, Times, 9 August
CR B C Hydro, 1959, ‘How to Shop Wisely for Household Appliances’, B.C. Hydro Home Service Collection (Vancouver: UBC Special Collections)
CR Coopersmith, J, 1992, The Electrification of Russia, 1880–1926 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press)
CR Cowan, R S, 1987, ‘The Consumption Junction: A Proposal for Research Strategies in the Sociology of Technology’, in Bijker, W et al (eds), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press), pp 261–80
CR Dolphin, F J and Dolphin, J, 1993, Country Power: The Electrical Revolution in Rural Alberta (Edmonton: Plains Publishing)
CR Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1941, Eighth Census of Canada – Volume IX Housing, Ottawa
CR Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1948, Household Electrification in Canadian Homes, Ottawa
CR Evenden, M, 2015, Allied Power: Mobilizing Hydro-Electricity during Canada’s Second World War (Toronto: University of Toronto Press)
CR Fleming, K, 1992, Power at Cost: Ontario Hydro and Rural Electrification, 1911–1958 (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press)
CR Forman, J, 1930, ‘Letter to A T Goward, Manager BC Electric Railway Company’, Victoria, 12 February
CR Fukko Kyoku, 1920, Katei no Dento, Dennetsu oyobi Denryoku (Tokyo: Fukko Kyoku Kenchiku Bu)
CR Gooday, G, 2008, Domesticating Electricity: Technology, Uncertainty and Gender, 1880–1914 (London: Pickering & Chatto)
CR Goto, S, 1928, ‘Electric Heating for Domestic Purposes in Japan’, Transactions of Fuel Conference, 3, pp 118–33
CR Government of Alberta, 1970, Letter to REAs reporting incidents on rural lines, 1959–69, Electrical Protection Department, Edmonton
CR Gucciardo, D, 2011, ‘The Powered Generation: Canadians, Electricity, and Everyday Life’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Western Ontario
CR Hausman, J, Hertner, J, Wilkins, M, 2008, Global Electrification: Multinational Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 1878–2007 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
CR HEPC Ontario, 1935, ‘General Information Regarding Service to Consumers in Rural Power Districts’, Ottawa, November
CR HEPC Ontario, 1939, ‘Appliance Survey – Urban and Rural’, The Bulletin, 26/11, Ottawa, November
CR Horii, T, 1960, ‘Tekisei Haisen Undo’, Shomei Gakkai Shi, 44/7, pp 100–1
CR Hourai, Y, 1927, Denki Jyoshiki (Tokyo: Hakubunkan)
CR Hughes, T P, 1983, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press)
CR Ito, A, 2008, ‘Denki Gyokai Kanren Dantai no Kokumin muke Keimo Katsudo’, in Inoki, T (ed), Senkanki Nihon no Syakai Shudan to Network (Tokyo: NTT Shuppan), pp 335–58
CR Jellison, K, 1993, Entitled To Power: Farm Women and Technology, 1913–63 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press)
CR Jones, C, 2014, Routes of Power: Energy and Modern America (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press)
CR Jutaku Kenkyujyo Iinkai, 1954, ‘Tokyo Toka Concrete Apartment Jyokyo ni kansuru Chosahokoku 1’, Jutaku Kenkyu, 4, pp 1–36
CR Kajima, A, 2013, ‘Nihon ni okeru Teigaku Dento Sei to Denkyu Kasitsuke no Hensen’, Kitakyushu Kogyo Koto Senmon Gakko Kenkyu Hokoku, 46, pp 9–26
CR Kale, S, 2014, Electrifying India: Regional Political Economies of Development (Stanford: Stanford University Press)
CR Katei Denki Fukyu Kai, 1929, Sumiyoi Ie (Tokyo: Katei Denki Fukyu Kai)
CR Kline, R, 2000, ‘Consumers in the Country: Technology and Social Change in Rural America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press)
CR Klingender, F M, 1994, ‘To Lighten the Burden of Womenkind’: The Mechanization of Domestic Equipment, 1890–1960, Historical Assessment (Ottawa: Canadian Science and Technology Museum)
CR Koei Denki Fukugen Undo-shi Henshu Iinkai, 1969, Koei Denki Fukugen Undo-shi (Tokyo: Koei Denkijigyo Fukugen Kentoshi Kyogikai)
CR Makino, F, 1992, ‘Katei Enerugi no Shakai Keizai Shi [Residential Energy Use in Pre-War Japan]’, Tokyo Gakugei Daigaku Kiyo, Section III, 43, pp 37–79
CR Marvin, S, Chappells, H and Guy, S, 2010, ‘Smart Meters as Obligatory Intermediaries: Reconstructing Environmental Action’, in Guy, S et al (eds), Shaping Urban Infrastructures: Intermediaries and the Governance of Socio-Technical Networks (London: Earthscan)
CR Matsushita Denki Seisakusho, 1933, Denki Juyosya wa Nani wo Nozonde iruka (Tokyo: Matsushita Denki)
CR Mickler, G J, 1928, ‘Use of Hydro by Domestic Customers Grows’, Ontario Hydro Bulletin, p 320
CR Monbu Sho Futsu Gakumu Kyoku, 1923, Seikatsu Kaizen no Kenkyu (Tokyo: Dainippon Tosho)
CR Mugai, 1933, ‘Denki Senyo Boshi to Dotokuteki Syakaishusei no Zesei’, Denki Keizai Jiron, 15 July
CR Namegawa Shi, 1985, Namegawa Shi Shi Tsushi hen (Toyama: Namegawa Shi)
CR Nelles, H V, 1974, The Politics of Development: Forests, Mines and Hydro-Electric Power in Ontario, 1849–1941 (Hamden, Conn: Archon Books)
CR Nelles, H V, 2003, ‘Hydro and After: The Canadian Experience with the Organization, Nationalization and Deregulation of Electrical Utilities’, Annales historiques de l‘électricité, 1, pp 117–32
CR Netherton, A, 2007, ‘The Political Economy of Canadian Hydro-Electricity: Between Old Provincial Hydros and Neoliberal Regional Energy Regimes’, Canadian Political Science Review, 1/1, pp 107–124
CR Nihon Denki Kogyokai, 1967, Taikyu Shohizai no Jyuyo Doko Chosa (Tokyo: Nihon Denki Kogyokai)
CR Nihon Enerugi Keizai Kenkyujyo, 1996, Sengo 50 nen no Katei Sekatsu to Enerugi Shohi (Tokyo: Nihon Enerugi Keizai Kenkyujyo)
CR Nishino, T, 2008, ‘Development of Co-operative Society for Electricity Supply in Mountain Villages before World War II’, Sangyo Kenkyu, 44/1, pp 63–76
CR Nishino, T, 2013, ‘Senzen ni okeru Denki Kumiai no Keiei to sono Tokusei’, Shogaku Ronshu, 81/4, pp 203–23
CR Nishino, T, 2017, ‘Sengo no Iwate ken ni okeru Sanson Chiiki no Denkakatei ni tsuiteno Oboegaki’, Chiiki Seisaku Kenkyu, 19/4, pp 189–207
CR Nye, D, 1990, Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology, 1880–1940 (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press)
CR Nye, D, 2009, ‘History of Electricity Use’, in Cleveland, C (ed), Concise Encyclopedia of History of Energy (San Diego: Elsevier)
CR Osaka Denki Shimbun, 1940, Radio no Bunpu (Osaka: Osaka Denki Shimbun)
CR Parr, J, 1997, ‘What Makes Washday Less Blue? Gender, Nation, and Technology Choice in Postwar Canada’, Technology and Culture, 38/1, pp 153–186
CR Samuels, R, 1987, The Business of the Japanese State: Energy Markets in Comparative and Historical Perspective (Ithaca: Cornell University Press)
CR Sand, J, 2003, House and Home in Modern Japan: Architecture, Domestic Space, and Bourgeois Culture (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press)
CR Sandwell, R, 2014, ‘Mapping Fuel Use in Canada: Exploring the Social History of Canadians’ Great Fuel Transformation’, in Bonnell, J and Fortin, M (eds), Historical GIS Research in Canada, (Calgary: University of Calgary Press)
CR Sandwell, R, 2015, ‘Pedagogies of the Unimpressed: Re-Educating Ontario Women for the Mineral Economy, 1900–1940’, Ontario History, 107/1, pp 36–59
CR Schroeder, F, 1986, ‘More “Small Things Forgotten”: Domestic Electrical Plugs and Receptacles, 1881–1931’, Technology and Culture, 27/3, pp 525–43
CR Stadfeld, B, 2002, ‘Electric Space: Social and Natural Transformations in British Columbia’s Hydroelectric Industry to World War II’, unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of History, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
CR Suzuki, J, 2013, Shin Gijyutsu no Shakai Shi (Tokyo: Chuo Koron)
CR Taylor, M D, 1965, ‘Development of the Electricity Industry in British Columbia’, unpublished PhD Thesis, Geography Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
CR Teishin Sho Jigyokyoku, Denki Jigyo Yoran, various years
CR The Globe, 1921, ‘Hydro’s Offer Causes Furore’, 13 May, p 3
CR The Globe, 1923, ‘What a house should contain electrically’, 12 December, p 7
CR The Globe, 1926, ‘Advocate Flat Rate for Hydro Power in Rural Ontario’, 17 December, p 11
CR The Globe, 1935, ‘Hydro Meters’, 1 March, p 4
CR The Globe and Mail, 1942, ‘Flat Rate Seen Power Waster’, p 23
CR Tobey, R, 1996, Technology as Freedom: The New Deal and the Electrical Modernization of the American Home (Berkeley: University of California Press)
CR Tsujimoto, K, 1923, ‘Katei ni okeru Netsugen to sono Oyo’, Journal of the Fuel Society of Japan, 2/2, pp 108–33
CR Turnbull, R, 1965, ‘Long Wait for the Light that Failed’, Globe and Mail, 25 September
CR Yamaguchi Ken Tokei Ka, 1956, ‘Hikari Shi Jyumin no Seikatsu Jittai’ (Yamaguchi: Yamaguchi Ken Tokei Ka)
CR Yopp, H T, 1935, The Growth and Prevention of Electrical Energy Diversion, MSc Thesis, School of Electrical Engineering, Georgia School of Technology, Atlanta, April
WT Science Museum Group Journal
OL 30