The Heat Is On!

Abstract

The article examines how the foundations for our twenty-first-century production, perception, and consumption of heating were laid at the turn of the twentieth century. Central and district heating promised to alleviate the increasingly noticeable ecological and social consequences of industrialization and cemented the inseparable unity of technology, the environment, and society. Pipelines transported not only heat but also ideas of welfare, community, and progress. As a result, previously neglected parts of society were protected from the negative consequences of modernization. However new vulnerabilities also arose, as is now most evident in Ukraine, where heating infrastructure has become the target of Russian attacks.