Confluence

by Pritchard, Sara B.

• ISBN13: 9780674049659
• ISBN10: 0674049659
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-04
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

Because of its location, volume, speed, and propensity for severe flooding, the Rhocirc;ne, Francers"s most powerful river, has long influenced the economy, politics, and transportation networks of Europe. Humans have tried to control the Rhocirc;ne for over two thousand years, but large-scale development did not occur until the twentieth century. The Rhocirc;ne valley has undergone especially dramatic changes since World War II. Hydroelectric plants, nuclear reactors, and industrialized agriculture radically altered the river, as they simultaneously fueled both the physical and symbolic reconstruction of France.In Confluence, Sara B. Pritchard traces the Rhocirc;ners"s remaking since 1945. She interweaves this story with an analysis of how state officials, technical elites, and citizens connected the environment and technology to political identities and state-building. In the process, Pritchard illuminates the relationship between nature and nation in France.Pritchardrs"s innovative integration of science and technology studies, environmental history, and the political history of modern France makes a powerful case for envirotechnical analysis: an approach that highlights the material and rhetorical links between ecological and technological systems. Her groundbreaking book demonstrates the importance of environmental management and technological development to culture and politics in the twentieth century. As Pritchard shows, reconstructing the Rhocirc;ne remade France itself.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Figures	p. ix
Prologue	p. xi
Introduction: Nature, Technology, and History	p. 1
Envisioning a New Rhône	p. 28
Imagining the Nation's River	p. 55
Postwar Transformations	p. 78
Local Responses	p. 132
Rethinking the Nation	p. 163
Rethinking the Rhône	p. 193
A New Modern	p. 212
Conclusion: Legacies of the Rhône	p. 240
List of Abbreviations	p. 253
Notes	p. 255
Bibliography	p. 339
Acknowledgments	p. 353
Index	p. 359
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