Lecture des AK Energiegeographie
Der AK Geographische Energieforschung ist ein Netzwerk von Wissenschaftler*innen, die an den Beziehungen zwischen Energie und Raum interessiert sind. Der AK möchte mit Tagungen und Fachsitzungen die geographische Energieforschung theoretisch und methodisch weiterentwickeln und ihre Relevanz in Forschung und Praxis stärken.
[ONLINE] Space, Energy and Social Change: Energy Geographies in the Making
During the last two decades, there has been an explosion of research on energy geographies, alongside the increasing recognition of social sciences in energy policy and the development of energy projects. This explosion has proliferated multiple methods and new conceptual ideas that put equity concerns at the heart of energy research and the transition to renewable energy. Geography, in particular, has contributed a spatial vocabulary explaining how energy projects are tied to both places and territories, how spatial inequalities shape what energy developments are priorities, the unfolding of energy choreographies within the built environment, or emerging narratives for future change.
In this lecture, I will look forward to new research directions that promise insights into energy geographies through an infrastructural lens. First, infrastructure geographies have consolidated the perspective of infrastructures as heterogeneous configurations that permeate everyday life. Second, queer theory has invited thinking beyond putative dichotomies. In the case of energy infrastructures, terminology such as visibility and invisibility and on-grid and off-grid have shaped generations of researchers. I will show how this dichotomic thinking takes attention away from the crucial questions in energy development. Third, feminist thought has turned attention to the politics of infrastructure as they unfold in everyday life. In energy development, the masculinist perspectives have long shaped energy visions that prioritised dominion over service, but this is being contested and reclaimed by energy sovereignty movements.
Vanesa Castan Broto ist Professorin für Climate Urbanism am Urban Institute der University of Sheffield (UK). Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte umfassen die Governance des Klimawandels in Städten, Urbanisierung und Energy Transitions sowie Hindernisse bei der Implementation von Maßnahmen des Klimaschutzes. Neuere Publikationen: „Urban Sustainability and Justice“ (2019 mit Linda Westman, Zed Books) und „Urban Energy Landscapes“ (2019, Cambridge University Press).