Elisabetta Bini
I am an Assistant Professor in Contemporary History at the University of Naples Federico II. My research revolves around the history of transatlantic relations during the Cold War, the history of international energy policies, the history of decolonization and development, the history of consumer culture, and the history of women and gender.
Before moving to the University of Naples Federico II, I was a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, and a Research Fellow at the University of Rome 2 and the University of Trieste. I earned my PhD in Modern European History from New York University, under the guidance of Professor Mary Nolan.
My first book was published in Italian by Carocci and will appear in English with the title "Fueling the Cold War: Oil, Development and Consumption in the Mediterranean, 1945-1973." This book analyzes post-World War II oil politics in the Mediterranean by focusing on a specific case-study, the Italian state-owned oil company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (National Hydrocarbon Agency, ENI). It examines the role ENI played in rebuilding Italy’s economy and spreading mass motorization by acquiring its own sources of oil in North Africa and the Middle East and pursuing the country’s independence from US, British and French oil firms. It shows that, through ENI, Italy was able to develop new economic and political relationships with North African and Middle Eastern countries, and establish an autonomous position in the Atlantic bloc, as a mediator between decolonizing countries and the Atlantic Alliance.
I am currently working on two research projects. The first, titled "From Colony to Oil Producer: International Oil Politics in Libya, 1951-1981," examines the ways in which U.S., British and Italian oil companies transformed labor politics in Libya between the end of Italian colonialism in 1951 and the expulsion of American oil companies from Libya in 1981.
The second, titled "Atoms for Peace (and War): the United States and Italy's Civilian Nuclear Policies during the Cold War," examines the ways in which different U.S. institutions and individuals influenced Italian civilian nuclear policies during the Cold War.
Before moving to the University of Naples Federico II, I was a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, and a Research Fellow at the University of Rome 2 and the University of Trieste. I earned my PhD in Modern European History from New York University, under the guidance of Professor Mary Nolan.
My first book was published in Italian by Carocci and will appear in English with the title "Fueling the Cold War: Oil, Development and Consumption in the Mediterranean, 1945-1973." This book analyzes post-World War II oil politics in the Mediterranean by focusing on a specific case-study, the Italian state-owned oil company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (National Hydrocarbon Agency, ENI). It examines the role ENI played in rebuilding Italy’s economy and spreading mass motorization by acquiring its own sources of oil in North Africa and the Middle East and pursuing the country’s independence from US, British and French oil firms. It shows that, through ENI, Italy was able to develop new economic and political relationships with North African and Middle Eastern countries, and establish an autonomous position in the Atlantic bloc, as a mediator between decolonizing countries and the Atlantic Alliance.
I am currently working on two research projects. The first, titled "From Colony to Oil Producer: International Oil Politics in Libya, 1951-1981," examines the ways in which U.S., British and Italian oil companies transformed labor politics in Libya between the end of Italian colonialism in 1951 and the expulsion of American oil companies from Libya in 1981.
The second, titled "Atoms for Peace (and War): the United States and Italy's Civilian Nuclear Policies during the Cold War," examines the ways in which different U.S. institutions and individuals influenced Italian civilian nuclear policies during the Cold War.
less
InterestsView All (32)
Uploads
Conference Presentations by Elisabetta Bini
6th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON AFRICAN STUDIES, Paris July 8-10, 2015
As recent events in Libya, Algeria and Nigeria have shown, oil workers play (and have played) a crucial role in shaping international oil politics, by blocking or rederecting the flow of oil, and organizing through trade unions. Yet, scholars have often overlooked their importance, focusing instead on diplomatic relations and high politics, or on the economic strategies carried out by single oil firms. This paper analyzes the ways in which U.S. oil companies transformed Libya’s economy and society between the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the rise of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime in 1969, as the country became one of the main oil producers in North Africa and the Middle East. It examines the forms of exploitation and resistance that were carried out in American oil fields and the role oil workers had in challenging U.S. labor policies by organizing trade unions, promoting strikes, and sabotaging pipelines. This paper argues that oil workers in Libya challenged the politics of informal empire pursued by U.S. oil companies and shaped the emergence of oil nationalism. They resisted the forms of segregation and discrimination introduced in oil camps and company towns, by demanding the right to redefine labor relations through trade unions, and establishing ties with other trade unions in Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. In the early 1960s, a concerted effort led by the Libyan government, conservative Libyan trade unions, the U.S. administration and the main American trade union, the AFL-CIO, marginalized them. Nevertheless, during the Six Day War of 1967, oil workers constituted one of the main forces behind Libya’s attempt to promote oil nationalism, by placing an embargo on oil exports. By doing so, they set the stage for the emergence of Qaddafi’s regime in 1969.