Energy infrastructures in the Eastern Bloc

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This volume by Falk Flade explores the construction and operation of cross-border energy networks in Eastern Europe, focusing on transnational electricity, oil, and gas transmission systems and their implications for Poland. Spanning approximately 150 years from the late 19th century to 2016, it emphasizes the socialist period from the late 1940s to the early 1990s. Poland's role is highlighted, alongside other former Eastern Bloc countries like Czechoslovakia, the GDR, and the Soviet Union. The book presents three case studies: the electricity grid Mir, the crude oil pipeline Druzhba, and the natural gas pipeline Soyuz. Through these comparisons, it traces the evolving cooperation among socialist countries in the Eastern Bloc regarding the planning, construction, and use of transnational energy infrastructures. Utilizing the theoretical framework of Large Technological Systems, the study examines the interplay between technical artifacts and their broader economic, political, and cultural contexts. This approach avoids technological determinism, providing insights into the organizational, economic, and power-political dimensions of transnational energy infrastructures in the Eastern Bloc.