The Soviet Energy Imaginary: Energy Sector Management: Between Scarcity and Abundance

Contemporary energy infrastructure in Russia is trying to fit global trends of energy transition and ecology. This transformation is not always smooth and not because of lack of will or intellectual or technological resources. This transformation process is largely complicated by the fact that the materiality of energy infrastructure and management was created with other values and political ideals in mind. Energy infrastructure that exists in Russia today (and has been inherited by the post-Soviet countries) was developed and created during the Soviet period. This material backbone manifests the values and perceptions embedded in this system in previous historical periods. Perspectives on energy, both historically and now, are embedded in a complex fabric of cultural ideas and political perceptions. This article is dedicated to the conceptual foundations of the organization of the Soviet energy system and energy saving initiatives and policies, which embodied the socialist idea about energy management. The research uses the framework of sociotechnical imaginaries suggested by Sheila Jasanoff.