Bio
Gabrielle Hecht is Professor of History and (by courtesy) of Anthropology. She is President of the Society for the History of Technology, and Research Associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research in South Africa.
Hecht's current research explores the inside-out Earth and its wastes in order to reveal the hidden costs of the so-called "energy transition," with research sites in the Arctic, the Andes, southern Africa, and west Africa. Her 2023 book, *Residual Governance: How South African Foretells Planetary Futures,* received two 2024 PROSE Awards (for Excellence in Social Science and for Government and Politics) from the Association of American Publishers; it's a finalist for the 2024 Best Book Award from the African Studies Association.
Hecht's graduate courses include colloquia on "Power in the Anthropocene," "Infrastructure and Power in the Global South," "Technopolitics," and "Materiality and Power." She supervises dissertations in science and technology studies (STS), transnational history, and African studies. Her undergraduate course in "Racial Justice in the Nuclear Age" was built in partnership with the Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates (BVHPCA).
Hecht’s 2012 book *Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade* offers new perspectives on the global nuclear order by focusing on African uranium mines and miners. It received awards from the Society for the Social Studies of Science, the American Historical Association, the American Sociological Association, and the Suzanne M. Glasscock Humanities Institute, as well as an honorable mention from the African Studies Association. An abridged version appeared in French as *Uranium Africain, une histoire globale* (Le Seuil 2016). Her first book, *The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity* (1998/ 2nd ed 2009), explores how the French embedded nuclear policy in reactor technology, and nuclear culture in reactor operations. It received awards from the American Historical Association and the Society for the History of Technology, and has appeared in French as *Le rayonnement de la France: Énergie nucléaire et identité nationale après la seconde guerre mondiale* (2004/ 2014).
Her affiliations at Stanford include the Center for African Studies, the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, the Center for Global Ethnography, the Program on Urban Studies, and the Program in Modern Thought and Literature. Before returning to Stanford in 2017, Hecht taught in the University of Michigan’s History department for 18 years, where she helped to found and direct UM’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) and served as associate director of UM’s African Studies Center.
Hecht holds a PhD in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania (1992), and a bachelor’s degree in Physics from MIT (1986). She’s been a visiting scholar in universities in Australia, France, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, and Sweden. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council for Learned Societies, and the South African and Dutch national research foundations, among others.
Academic Appointments
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Professor, History
Honors & Awards
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Finalist, Best Book Award in African Studies, African Studies Association (2024)
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PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Science, Association of American Publishers (2024)
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PROSE Award in Government and Politics, Association of American Publishers (2024)
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Guggenheim Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation (2023)
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National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, NEH (2022)
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General Anthropology Division Prize for Exemplary Cross-Field Scholarship, American Anthropological Association (2019)
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Rachel Carson Prize, Society for Social Studies of Science (2016)
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Susanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize for Interdisciplinary Scholarship, Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University (2014)
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Honorable Mention, Melville J. Herskovits Prize, African Studies Association (2013)
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Robert K. Merton Prize, Science, Knowledge, and Technology Section, American Sociological Association (2013)
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Martin A. Klein Prize in African History, American Historical Association (2012)
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Michigan Humanities Award, University of Michigan (2012)
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Edelstein Prize, Society for the History of Technology (2001)
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Henry Baxter Adams Prize, American Historical Association (1999)
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Abbott Payson Usher Prize, Society for the History of Technology (1996)
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Dean's Award, Stanford University (1996)
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Levinson Prize, Society for the History of Technology (1991)
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Newcomen Prize, Newcomen Society (1991)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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President, Society for the History of Technology (2023 - 2024)
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Advisory Board Member, RADIANT: Radioactive Ruins: Security in the Age of the Anthropocene, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) (2018 - Present)
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Advisory Board Member, AnthroTOX Convergence Environment, University of Oslo (2017 - Present)
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Advisory Board Member, Chair of excellence in Security Studies, Sciences Po (2017 - Present)
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Member, Conseil Scientifique, ANDRA (Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs) (2015 - Present)
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Member, Comité Scientifique, Projet AGORAS (Amélioration de la Gouvernance des Organisations et des Réseaux d’Acteurs pour la Sûreté Nucléaire) (2014 - 2019)
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Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Sciences Po (2013 - 2017)
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Editorial Board Member, Technology’s Stories (2016 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, Engaging Science, Technology, and Society (eSTS) (2015 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, Feminist Technosciences book series, University of Washington Press (2014 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, African Perspectives book series, University of Michigan Press (2014 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, Global History and Culture: Medicine, Science and Technology book series, Manchester University Press (2013 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, Hospodarske dejiny (2013 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, History and Technology (2008 - Present)
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Member, Merton Prize Committee, Science, Knowledge and Technology Section, American Sociological Association (2014 - 2014)
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Member, Executive Council, Society for the Social Studies of Science (2006 - 2009)
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Member, Comité d’histoire d’électricité, Fondation Electricité de France (2001 - 2015)
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Member, Executive Council, Society for the History of Technology (2000 - 2003)
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Member, Transition and Coordinating Committees, Tensions of Europe (1999 - 2007)
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Theme Leader, “Colonialism, Decolonization, and Development,” Tensions of Europe (1999 - 2004)
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Member, Editorial Committee, Society for the History of Technology (1995 - 2000)
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Co-founder & Convener, Bay Area Technology & Culture discussion group (1993 - 1998)
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Member, Levinson Prize Committee, Society for the History of Technology (1993 - 1995)
Program Affiliations
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Center for African Studies
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Modern Thought and Literature
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Program in History & Philosophy of Science
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Program on Urban Studies
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Science, Technology and Society
Professional Education
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Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, History and Sociology of Science (1992)
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M.A., University of Pennsylvania, History and Sociology of Science (1988)
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S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics (1986)
2024-25 Courses
- Racial Justice in the Nuclear Age
GLOBAL 109, HISTORY 109 (Spr) -
Independent Studies (8)
- Curricular Practical Training
HISTORY 299F (Aut, Win, Spr) - Graduate Directed Reading
HISTORY 399W (Aut, Win, Spr) - Graduate Research
HISTORY 499X (Aut, Win, Spr) - Reading for Orals
MTL 399 (Win, Spr) - Senior Research I
HISTORY 299A (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Research II
HISTORY 299B (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Research III
HISTORY 299C (Aut, Win, Spr) - Undergraduate Directed Research and Writing
HISTORY 299S (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Curricular Practical Training
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Prior Year Courses
2022-23 Courses
- Power in the Anthropocene: Pasts, Presents, Futures
ANTHRO 302D, HISTORY 302D, SUSTAIN 352 (Aut) - The History of 2022
HISTORY 1 (Aut)
- Power in the Anthropocene: Pasts, Presents, Futures
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Alina Bykova, Jaime Landinez Aceros, Caryce Tirop -
Orals Evaluator
Alina Bykova, Mariana Calvo, Aliyah Dunn-Salahuddin, Kyle Harmse, Miri Powell, Sonya Schoenberger, Adele Stock -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Kyle Harmse -
Doctoral Dissertation Co-Advisor (AC)
Janice Ndegwa, Sonya Schoenberger -
Doctoral (Program)
Mariana Calvo, Aliyah Dunn-Salahuddin, Kyle Harmse, Janice Ndegwa, Sonya Schoenberger, Adele Stock
All Publications
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Apartheid's Leviathan: Electricity and the Power of Technological Ambivalence (Book Review)
SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL
2024
View details for DOI 10.1080/02582473.2024.2358336
View details for Web of Science ID 001248551600001
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Systemic and Epistemic Racism in the History of Technology
TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE
2022; 63 (4): 935-952
View details for DOI 10.1353/tech.2022.0152
View details for Web of Science ID 000884693500002
View details for PubMedID 36341602
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2012: An elemental force: Uranium production in Africa, and what it means to be nuclear
BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
2020; 76 (6): 431–37
View details for DOI 10.1080/00963402.2020.1847526
View details for Web of Science ID 000598232500032
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INTERSCALAR VEHICLES FOR AN AFRICAN ANTHROPOCENE: On Waste, Temporality, and Violence
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
2018; 33 (1): 109–41
View details for DOI 10.14506/ca33.1.05
View details for Web of Science ID 000427245700005
- Residue Somatosphere 2018
- Uranium Africain, une histoire globale Editions du Seuil. 2016
- AHR Conversation History after the End of History: Reconceptualizing the Twentieth Century AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 2016
- Does Africa Really Want Yesterday's Future The African Technopolitan 2015
- Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade MIT Press. 2014
- Radioactive Excess: Modernization as Spectacle and Betrayal in Postcolonial Gabon Modernization as Spectacle in Africa edited by Bloom, P. J., Miescher , S. F. 2014
- Nuclear Janitors: Contract Workers at the Fukushima Reactors and Beyond The Asia-Pacific Journal 2013; 11 (1)
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The Work of Invisibility: Radiation Hazards and Occupational Health in South African Uranium Production
INTERNATIONAL LABOR AND WORKING-CLASS HISTORY
2012: 94-113
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0147547912000051
View details for Web of Science ID 000307178900007
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An elemental force: Uranium production in Africa, and what it means to be nuclear
BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
2012; 68 (2): 22-33
View details for DOI 10.1177/0096340212440352
View details for Web of Science ID 000301064400003
- Entangled Geographies: Empire and Technopolitics in the Global Cold War edited by Hecht, G. MIT Press. 2011
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History and the Technopolitics of Identity: The Case of Apartheid South Africa
JOURNAL OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN STUDIES
2010; 36 (3): 619-639
View details for DOI 10.1080/03057070.2010.507568
View details for Web of Science ID 000282133200009
- History and the Technopolitics of Identity: The Case of Apartheid South Africa Journal of Southern African Studies 2010; 36 (3)
- The Technopolitics of Cold War: Through a Transregional Perspective Essays on Twentieth-Century History 2010
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HOPES FOR THE RADIATED BODY: URANIUM MINERS AND TRANSNATIONAL TECHNOPOLITICS IN NAMIBIA
JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY
2010; 51 (2): 213-234
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0021853710000198
View details for Web of Science ID 000284055100005
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Africa and the Nuclear World: Labor, Occupational Health, and the Transnational Production of Uranium
COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN SOCIETY AND HISTORY
2009; 51 (4): 896-926
View details for DOI 10.1017/S001041750999017X
View details for Web of Science ID 000270441900009
- The Radiance of France, New Edition: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II MIT Press. 2009
- Le Rayonnement de la France: énergie nucléaire et identité nationale après la Seconde Guerre mondiale MIT Press. 2009
- A Cosmogram for Nuclear Things Isis 2007; 98: 100-108
- Negotiating Global Nuclearities: Apartheid, Decolonization, and the Cold War in the Making of the IAEA Osiris 2006; 21 (1): 25-48
- Nuclear Ontologies Constellations 2006; 13 (3)
- Globalization meets frankenstein? Reflections on terrorism, nuclearity, and global technopolitical discourse History and Technology 2003; 19 (1)
- Rupture-Talk in the Nuclear Age: Conjugating Colonial Power in Africa Social Studies of Science 2002; 32 (5-6): 691–727
- Technology, Politics, and National Identity in France Technologies of Power: Essays in Honor of Thomas Parke Hughes and Agatha Chipley Hughes edited by Allen, M. T. 2001