Abstract

Scholarship on the transformation of the European economy during the so-called ‘first globalisation’ (ca. 1870-1914) has moved beyond an outdated interpretation that regarded wood as an eminently pre-industrial resource, whose use declined due to the spread of new energy sources and raw materials. By contrast, recent studies have shown that the technological innovations and market integration associated with industrialisation were driving a sharp increase in demand for wood. However, understanding how the different components of the wood economy evolved remains difficult, not least because of the limitations of contemporary statistics. These constraints were largely due to the material characteristics of wood, which made it an anomalous commodity and hindered the adoption of standardised, internationally shared classification systems. Although the statistics produced during this period provide unreliable information on the condition of forests and the forest economy, they nonetheless reveal a great deal about how the main actors involved in forest management and exploitation perceived these issues. This seminar proposes a critical analysis of forest statistics not only as historical sources, but also as historiographical objects, examining their production, categories, underlying interests, and their use in public and political debate.