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Язык пользы и власти. Дискурс полезного угля в Российской империи второй половины XVIII в.
This article examines the formation and functioning of the discourse of “useful” coal in the Russian Empire during the second half of the eighteenth century. Ideas about the usefulness of coal, initially articulated in debates over the scarcity of forest resources, gradually extended beyond this context. Statements about coal’s usefulness reflected the views of various actors on its role in imperial policy: in central Russia, the new resource was expected to serve as an instrument of rational and “wise” governance, whereas in the southern borderlands it was employed to justify projects aimed at strengthening imperial institutions and military-industrial infrastructure. Ultimately, the discourse of useful coal functioned as an instrument of bureaucratic imagination and the projection of imperial resource policy in the Enlightenment era.