What is French about the “French fear of darkness”? The co-production of imagined communities of light and energy

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This essay takes expert assumptions about light preferences as a starting point for a historical inquiry into what I call imagined sociotechnical communities of light and energy. My argument is that historical energy supply systems produced these imaginaries and vice versa, shifting the scales at which public lighting was envisioned and darkness was acceptable. While in the 17th C. dark streets were the norm and even the illumination of single streets was publically contested, innovators of the 18th C. imagined gas light and energy on an urban scale. In the 20th C., electric lighting promoted electrification and the electricity supply systems in countries like France allowed experts to think and standardize lighting at a national level. In the 21st C. the expert imaginary of a light-loving French people is challenged by public environmental concern.