Culture as Renewable Oil

This insightful exploration of the Venezuelan petro-state illustrates how culture and oil are interconnected. Culture as Renewable Oil provides a fresh perspective on these relationships.

This book examines the Venezuelan petro-state from a cultural perspective. It unpacks the complex mediations that occur between a resource-intensive political regime and the work of culture and cultural producers in relation to policy and discourse. The author demonstrates how oil serves as a cultural resource, in addition to being a natural resource, suggesting a deeper connection between cultural struggles and oil politics.

Culture as Renewable Oil explores the intricate relationships between oil energy, state power, urban space, and culture, specifically focusing on the Petro-Socialist Venezuelan oil state. It challenges the compartmentalization of material and cultural analyses by illustrating that within the Petrostate, Territory, Bureaucratic Power, and Culture are inseparable. This examination reveals that struggles over culture are intertwined with oil, and vice versa, highlighting the dual significance of these resources.

The narrative delves into how the Venezuelan state employs its policies to instrumentalize culture and urban space, exploring the manifestations of Petro-Socialism in various contexts, including public speeches and advertisements. The discussion uncovers how the state-owned oil company privileges a specific cultural narrative, creating a parallel notion of culture that is tightly controlled and inextricably linked to the land, much like a mineral deposit. This book will appeal to researchers interested in Resource Management, Environmental Studies, Cultural Studies, and Political Geography.