Abstract

Abstract In August 1942, Brazil joined the Allied Forces in World War II. Part of the agreement was that the United States would help develop heavy industries in the country, mainly steel and oil. By that time, roughly 90% of Brazil's oil was imported from the US, a fact that had a direct impact on the oil scenario of the country. The war effort meant that fuel was redirected to military use, which generated great restrictions to civilian consumption. In the face of scarcity, thousands of Brazilians wrote the National Petroleum Council to request fuel quotas and traffic licenses. In doing so, they also shared the reasons why they needed gasoline, diesel, kerosene and other oil products. Such letters provide valuable insight into the Brazilian social landscape of the period, how people used different oil products and the meanings of progress and modernity they attributed to the access and consumption of such products. It is a moment that marks the deep fossil dependence that underpins this ideal of modernity - connecting, in the same arc, human activity and creativity, the use of machines and fossil fuels, seen as indispensable to bring about the desired progress of a modern nation.

Highlights

  • Natascha OTOYA progress and modernity they attributed to the access and consumption of such products

  • It is a moment that marks the deep fossil dependence that underpins this ideal of modernity - connecting, in the same arc, human activity and creativity, the use of machines and fossil fuels, seen as indispensable to bring about the desired progress of a modern nation

  • Like all other cases related to this period of rationing, the extension of the black market and the inflamed attitudes of citizens towards irregularities seem to point in the same direction: the pervasive nature of the use of fossil fuels in Brazilian society in the mid-20th century

Read more

Summary

Brazil in the great acceleration

Grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables, but we are, as a species, collectively and perpetually energy-hungry. In the face of scarcity, thousands of Brazilians wrote the state commissions and the National Petroleum Council to request fuel quotas and traffic licenses.5 In doing so, they shared the reasons why they needed gasoline, diesel, kerosene and other oil products. In the 1940s the country was on the track of industrialization, with growing internal trade and expanding urban centers, which were becoming connected to rural areas through new highways All these processes were already completely dependent on the use of fossil fuels — it is precisely this factor that led to the intense correspondence with the National Petroleum Council, in which the passage from an ‘agricultural vocation’ to an age of fossil fuel dependence can be seen. We can see some pillars of the ideological edifice that resulted in the idea — still quite current in Brazil today — that oil equals progress

The war effort and rationing of fuel
Wood and coal
Requests to cross state lines and transportation activities
Industries and machinery
Conclusion
Findings
Bibliographical references
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call