Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s
Between 1939 and 1944, the City of Reykjavík in Iceland built a geothermal district heating utility that enabled the inhabitants to transition from coal to geothermal heating. One of the promises that geothermal proponents made to the inhabitants was that the utility would relieve the housewives of...
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ftcairn:oai:cairn.info:JEHRHE_006_0001g 2023-12-24T10:17:52+01:00 Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s Melsted, Odinn 73 2021 https://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=JEHRHE_006_0001g fre fre https://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=JEHRHE_006_0001g Cairn Revue d'Histoire de l'Énergie | 6 | 1 | 2021-06-23 | p. 1g-22g | 2649-3055 Geothermal Heating Transition 2021 ftcairn 2023-11-30T02:09:23Z Between 1939 and 1944, the City of Reykjavík in Iceland built a geothermal district heating utility that enabled the inhabitants to transition from coal to geothermal heating. One of the promises that geothermal proponents made to the inhabitants was that the utility would relieve the housewives of their coal stoking duties. In this article, I examine the gender and energy justice implications of the changes in residential energy use in Reykjavík between the 1930s and 1970s. In particular, the role of women in the use of local biofuels and imported coal for household energy needs, the use of hot springs for laundry, and how the introduction of geothermal heating changed the lives of the inhabitants. Housewives mattered for the geothermal transition, which improved their work and lives. Yet the geothermal transition also created new challenges, new injustices among connected and unconnected households, and did not necessarily reduce the workload for women or revolutionize their societal roles. Other/Unknown Material Iceland Reykjavík Reykjavík Cairn (E-Journals) Reykjavík |
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French |
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Geothermal Heating Transition |
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Geothermal Heating Transition Melsted, Odinn Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
topic_facet |
Geothermal Heating Transition |
description |
Between 1939 and 1944, the City of Reykjavík in Iceland built a geothermal district heating utility that enabled the inhabitants to transition from coal to geothermal heating. One of the promises that geothermal proponents made to the inhabitants was that the utility would relieve the housewives of their coal stoking duties. In this article, I examine the gender and energy justice implications of the changes in residential energy use in Reykjavík between the 1930s and 1970s. In particular, the role of women in the use of local biofuels and imported coal for household energy needs, the use of hot springs for laundry, and how the introduction of geothermal heating changed the lives of the inhabitants. Housewives mattered for the geothermal transition, which improved their work and lives. Yet the geothermal transition also created new challenges, new injustices among connected and unconnected households, and did not necessarily reduce the workload for women or revolutionize their societal roles. |
author |
Melsted, Odinn |
author_facet |
Melsted, Odinn |
author_sort |
Melsted, Odinn |
title |
Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
title_short |
Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
title_full |
Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
title_fullStr |
Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relieving the Housewife: Gender and the Promise of Geothermal District Heating in Reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
title_sort |
relieving the housewife: gender and the promise of geothermal district heating in reykjavík, 1930s–1970s |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=JEHRHE_006_0001g |
op_coverage |
73 |
geographic |
Reykjavík |
geographic_facet |
Reykjavík |
genre |
Iceland Reykjavík Reykjavík |
genre_facet |
Iceland Reykjavík Reykjavík |
op_source |
Revue d'Histoire de l'Énergie | 6 | 1 | 2021-06-23 | p. 1g-22g | 2649-3055 |
op_relation |
https://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=JEHRHE_006_0001g |
op_rights |
Cairn |
_version_ |
1786206272419266560 |