Just mobility futures: Challenges for e-mobility transitions from a global perspective

Abstract

E-mobility has become the dominant answer for many governments in the Global North for reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector. Recently, several contributions discussed the justice implications of such e-mobility transitions. However, these were largely focused on the production and consumption of electric vehicles. Studies on injustices at the upstream end of global e-vehicle commodity chains are largely missing. We therefore suggest studying conflicts around the extraction of resources needed for the electrification of the mobility sector to identify justice demands made by protest actors in the Global South. We bring together the large body of literature on conflicts around mining in the Global South, and the literature on energy and mobility justice. We ask what justice demands are formulated by protest actors in conflicts over the extraction of cobalt, lithium, and copper, and what implications these demands have for the understanding and conceptualization of transitions towards just mobility futures from a global perspective. To answer these questions, we develop an analytical framework based on Fraser’s conceptualization of justice, and the concept of “justice frames”. We conclude with an overview of different justice demands voiced in resource conflicts and their implications for envisioning different types of just mobility futures.