The governance of large socio-technical system in history

Abstract

Since the mid-eighteenth century, several infrastructures have been laid in Europe and North America. How have they been governed up until the present period? This problem leads to the identification the broad patters of coevolution between technology and institutions. In this essay, I discuss the changes in institutional arrangements, the phases of large socio-technical systems and the broad historical periods. This discussion aims at setting the stage for the production of a synthetical view of the history of infrastructures.