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A tale of two coals : the politics of time in coal phase out

van Veelen, Bregje LU orcid (2025) In Environmental Politics
Abstract

Collective social and political imaginaries of energy transitions are underpinned by a particular temporality of linear, teleological paths of progress and modernity, conjuring an abstract future. But what happens when the future is suddenly here? Drawing on sociological and related literatures on ruination and decay, this article offers insights into how different actors respond when they find the temporalities through which they understand the world disrupted. Using empirical insights from the coal phase out process in Alberta, Canada, I analyse how different actors navigate temporal disorder and seek to re-instate temporal order. In doing so, I argue that the temporal is political, offering a novel lens for examining the power... (More)

Collective social and political imaginaries of energy transitions are underpinned by a particular temporality of linear, teleological paths of progress and modernity, conjuring an abstract future. But what happens when the future is suddenly here? Drawing on sociological and related literatures on ruination and decay, this article offers insights into how different actors respond when they find the temporalities through which they understand the world disrupted. Using empirical insights from the coal phase out process in Alberta, Canada, I analyse how different actors navigate temporal disorder and seek to re-instate temporal order. In doing so, I argue that the temporal is political, offering a novel lens for examining the power dynamics entangled in the phase out of fossil fuels.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
energy politics, energy transition, Fossil fuels, phase out, temporal politics, temporalities
in
Environmental Politics
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85214399457
ISSN
0964-4016
DOI
10.1080/09644016.2024.2445409
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
id
fbe97b15-5f90-4353-8c51-295f4034a243
date added to LUP
2025-01-20 18:42:06
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:10:09
@article{fbe97b15-5f90-4353-8c51-295f4034a243,
  abstract     = {{<p>Collective social and political imaginaries of energy transitions are underpinned by a particular temporality of linear, teleological paths of progress and modernity, conjuring an abstract future. But what happens when the future is suddenly here? Drawing on sociological and related literatures on ruination and decay, this article offers insights into how different actors respond when they find the temporalities through which they understand the world disrupted. Using empirical insights from the coal phase out process in Alberta, Canada, I analyse how different actors navigate temporal disorder and seek to re-instate temporal order. In doing so, I argue that the temporal is political, offering a novel lens for examining the power dynamics entangled in the phase out of fossil fuels.</p>}},
  author       = {{van Veelen, Bregje}},
  issn         = {{0964-4016}},
  keywords     = {{energy politics; energy transition; Fossil fuels; phase out; temporal politics; temporalities}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Environmental Politics}},
  title        = {{A tale of two coals : the politics of time in coal phase out}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2024.2445409}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/09644016.2024.2445409}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}