Oil And Ideology: The Cultural Creation Of The American Petroleum Industry (the Luther H. Hodges Jr. And Luther H. Hodges Sr. Series On Business, Entrepreneurship, And Public Policy)

Traditional accounts of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, as well as recent best-selling books on the subject, still accept without question charges of unethical and anti-competitive behavior by the American oil industry. In this pathbreaking synthesis of cultural, business, gender, and intellectual history, Roger and Diana Davids Olien explore how this negative image of the petroleum industry was created—and how this image in turn helped shape policy toward the industry in ways that were sometimes at odds with both the goals of reformers and the public interest. By turning a critical eye on sources that have often been accepted at face value and examining the self-interests of oil industry critics, the authors produce a more balanced, complex picture of the industry than has previously been offered. Their case study of the impact of ideology offers a striking example of how business must be understood through its cultural context and offers a new approach to understanding problems of regulation and reform. Traditional accounts of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, as well as recent best-selling books on the subject, still accept without question charges of unethical and anti-competitive behavior by the American oil industry. In this path-breaking synthesis of cultural, business, gender, and intellectual history, Roger and Diana Davids Olien explore how this negative image of the petroleum industry was created -- and how this image in turn helped shape policy toward the industry in ways that were sometimes at odds with both the goals of reformers and the public interest.By turning a critical eye on sources that have often been accepted at face value and examining the self-interests of oil industry critics, the authors produce a more balanced, complex picture of the industry than has previously been offered. Their case study of the impact of ideology offers a striking example of how business must be understood through its cultural context and offers a new approach to understanding problems of regulation and reform. Traditional accounts of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, as well as more recent best-selling books on the subject, still accept without question charges of unethical and anti-competitive behaviour by the American oil industry. In this synthesis of cultural, business, gender and intellectual history, Roger and Diana Davids Olien explore how this negative image of the petroleum industry was created -and how this image in turn helped shape policy toward the industry in ways that were sometimes at odds with both the goals or reformers and the public interest Before one can explain how Americans looked at the emerging petroleum industry in the late nineteenth century, it is necessary to look at the historical context, at the nation in which it was created and at some of the beliefs that were part of political and economic culture. Roger M. Olien & Diana Davids Olien. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [261]-298) And Index.