Recent trends in French historiography on electricity

Abstract

Beginning practically from scratch about a quarter century ago, a vast storehouse of knowledge has been collected on the history of electricity in France and elsewhere. Caron described the publications by the AHEF as a sort of database. We know a lot more about production and consumption, about companies and people active in the electrical sector, about economic results and social effects, about the legal framework and the political context, about the cultural and artistic aspects of the novelty that was electricity. A large number of historians and graduate students have worked on many fronts. None can be said to have been neglected. That was the predominant trend. Recent historiography tried to embrace all of the history of electricity. To a large extent, it succeeded. What remains to be done ? Three suggestions can be advanced. First, more attention has to be paid to the very recent history of electrification. As time passes and EDF archives become available, more work based on sources will be done on the immediate past. Second, the international dimension has to be strengthened, in two respects. On the one hand, comparisons between France and other countries need to be encouraged. On the other, connections between national electrical systems remain hazy and require clarification and understanding. Third, greater use has to be made of the interdisciplinary approach, electricity being a subject at the crossroads, at the very least, of science, technology, economics, politics, sociology, literature, art and, of course, history.