Is local adequacy of technology a pathway towards social inclusion? The challenges of rural electrification in Argentina

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the last decades, a number of programmes that relied on the exploitation of renewable sources have been developed in countries of the Global South, in order to solve the situation of millions of rural inhabitants without access to electricity. In Argentina, this model was implemented since 1999 with the PERMER (Renewable Energies in Rural Markets Project) by a neoliberal government. The main source of funding, as the conditions that shaped the programme, were provided and established – mostly – by the World Bank. In 2001, the country faced an important crisis; therefore the Project had to develop a process of socio-technical adequacy in order to resolve the unexpected problems regarding the new scenario. Focusing on the limits and scopes of the PERMER case, this paper aims to analyse how different governments (with neoliberal or developmental goals) and multinational organizations have addressed the rural electrification problem, by proposing a solution based on a closed package and universal technology. Finally, the notion of inclusion proposed by the Worlds Bank’s model of rural electrification is questioned, suggesting another question: can local adequacy be a way of achieving situated innovation and social inclusion?