Reimagining energy infrastructure for justice : power, politics, and institutional work in India’s 2.05 GW Pavagada solar park
(2024) In Energy Research & Social Science 116.- Abstract
- India has positioned itself as a leader in transitioning its energy sector to renewable sources, with ambitious targets and policies in place. Large-scale grid-integrated renewable energy plants have been identified as the most efficient option. Scholarly arguments differ regarding the impacts of renewables-led transitions, with some emphasizing positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes, while others highlight the potential for reinforcing asymmetrical power relations and unjust outcomes. Viewing the energy transition as a socio-technical process, we utilize a recent conceptualisation of the relationship between institutional work and infrastructures to analyze the unfolding power dynamics and its influence on socially just... (More)
- India has positioned itself as a leader in transitioning its energy sector to renewable sources, with ambitious targets and policies in place. Large-scale grid-integrated renewable energy plants have been identified as the most efficient option. Scholarly arguments differ regarding the impacts of renewables-led transitions, with some emphasizing positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes, while others highlight the potential for reinforcing asymmetrical power relations and unjust outcomes. Viewing the energy transition as a socio-technical process, we utilize a recent conceptualisation of the relationship between institutional work and infrastructures to analyze the unfolding power dynamics and its influence on socially just outcomes. Theoretically, we draw on the ‘Triple-Re’ framework, which distinguishes three interrelated domains of institutional work in socio-technical transitions: reimagining, recoding, and reconfiguring of infrastructures. Through a process tracing approach, we study the planning and realization of India's Pavagada Solar Park to understand the interactions among actors, institutions, policies, and material contexts at various spatial and temporal scales. Field observations, interviews, and archival research reveal how discursive dynamics and the recoding of rules and policies have facilitated land and resource mobilization, resulting in changes to ownership models, local infrastructure, land use, ecosystems, and occupational structures. We argue that recognizing and understanding these outcomes are crucial for achieving socially just outcomes in the context of renewable energy infrastructure. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3e394de5-2165-4716-aa5e-5f65c25d2516
- author
- Haldar, Stuti LU ; Hoffman, Jesse ; Verma, Mithlesh ; Peddibhotla, Ananya and Bazaz, Amir
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Energy justice, Energy transition, Agency, Institutional work, Renewable energy
- in
- Energy Research & Social Science
- volume
- 116
- article number
- 103645
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85199147789
- ISSN
- 2214-6326
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103645
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3e394de5-2165-4716-aa5e-5f65c25d2516
- date added to LUP
- 2024-07-29 14:25:19
- date last changed
- 2024-08-01 12:38:11
@article{3e394de5-2165-4716-aa5e-5f65c25d2516,
abstract = {{India has positioned itself as a leader in transitioning its energy sector to renewable sources, with ambitious targets and policies in place. Large-scale grid-integrated renewable energy plants have been identified as the most efficient option. Scholarly arguments differ regarding the impacts of renewables-led transitions, with some emphasizing positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes, while others highlight the potential for reinforcing asymmetrical power relations and unjust outcomes. Viewing the energy transition as a socio-technical process, we utilize a recent conceptualisation of the relationship between institutional work and infrastructures to analyze the unfolding power dynamics and its influence on socially just outcomes. Theoretically, we draw on the ‘Triple-Re’ framework, which distinguishes three interrelated domains of institutional work in socio-technical transitions: reimagining, recoding, and reconfiguring of infrastructures. Through a process tracing approach, we study the planning and realization of India's Pavagada Solar Park to understand the interactions among actors, institutions, policies, and material contexts at various spatial and temporal scales. Field observations, interviews, and archival research reveal how discursive dynamics and the recoding of rules and policies have facilitated land and resource mobilization, resulting in changes to ownership models, local infrastructure, land use, ecosystems, and occupational structures. We argue that recognizing and understanding these outcomes are crucial for achieving socially just outcomes in the context of renewable energy infrastructure.}},
author = {{Haldar, Stuti and Hoffman, Jesse and Verma, Mithlesh and Peddibhotla, Ananya and Bazaz, Amir}},
issn = {{2214-6326}},
keywords = {{Energy justice; Energy transition; Agency; Institutional work; Renewable energy}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Energy Research & Social Science}},
title = {{Reimagining energy infrastructure for justice : power, politics, and institutional work in India’s 2.05 GW Pavagada solar park}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103645}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.erss.2024.103645}},
volume = {{116}},
year = {{2024}},
}