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Energy, space, and movement : Toward a framework for theorizing energy justice

Hornborg, Alf LU (2020) In Geografiska Annaler, Series B: Human Geography 102(1). p.8-20
Abstract
This paper attempts to assemble a conceptual framework for understanding to what extent an energy technology is simply a way of putting nature to work, and to what extent it is a way of putting other segments of global society to work. The turn to fossil energy reversed the relation between energy and space, as fossil fuels henceforth propelled new transport technologies that provided access to increasingly wider spans of space. Velocity is a measure of the amount of time required to traverse a given space, and given a certain mass and amount of friction, it can be physically expressed as the dissipation of a given quantity of energy. Technological progress has cognate implications for labour productivity and velocity: both entail an... (More)
This paper attempts to assemble a conceptual framework for understanding to what extent an energy technology is simply a way of putting nature to work, and to what extent it is a way of putting other segments of global society to work. The turn to fossil energy reversed the relation between energy and space, as fossil fuels henceforth propelled new transport technologies that provided access to increasingly wider spans of space. Velocity is a measure of the amount of time required to traverse a given space, and given a certain mass and amount of friction, it can be physically expressed as the dissipation of a given quantity of energy. Technological progress has cognate implications for labour productivity and velocity: both entail an increase in exosomatic energy dissipation that is contingent on the appropriation of embodied labour time and natural space. In concealing the dependency of industrial technology on asymmetric resource transfers, general-purpose money continues to distort the conventional understanding of technology even in Marxist theory. Given that technology is a manifestation of capital, a fundamental paradox of Marxism is its aspiration to combine a critique of capital accumulation with a vision of technological progress. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
energy, space, movement, justice, technology, capital
in
Geografiska Annaler, Series B: Human Geography
volume
102
issue
1
pages
8 - 20
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85074787838
ISSN
1468-0467
DOI
10.1080/04353684.2019.1682939
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d0b28113-3d4d-4fd9-b81e-548839e5a60c
date added to LUP
2019-09-22 20:38:01
date last changed
2022-04-26 05:38:03
@article{d0b28113-3d4d-4fd9-b81e-548839e5a60c,
  abstract     = {{This paper attempts to assemble a conceptual framework for understanding to what extent an energy technology is simply a way of putting nature to work, and to what extent it is a way of putting other segments of global society to work. The turn to fossil energy reversed the relation between energy and space, as fossil fuels henceforth propelled new transport technologies that provided access to increasingly wider spans of space. Velocity is a measure of the amount of time required to traverse a given space, and given a certain mass and amount of friction, it can be physically expressed as the dissipation of a given quantity of energy. Technological progress has cognate implications for labour productivity and velocity: both entail an increase in exosomatic energy dissipation that is contingent on the appropriation of embodied labour time and natural space. In concealing the dependency of industrial technology on asymmetric resource transfers, general-purpose money continues to distort the conventional understanding of technology even in Marxist theory. Given that technology is a manifestation of capital, a fundamental paradox of Marxism is its aspiration to combine a critique of capital accumulation with a vision of technological progress.}},
  author       = {{Hornborg, Alf}},
  issn         = {{1468-0467}},
  keywords     = {{energy; space; movement; justice; technology; capital}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{8--20}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Geografiska Annaler, Series B: Human Geography}},
  title        = {{Energy, space, and movement : Toward a framework for theorizing energy justice}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2019.1682939}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/04353684.2019.1682939}},
  volume       = {{102}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}