Abstract
Sociotechnical transitions are grounded within temporal scenarios, predictions of the future, and competing long-term trajectories. While decarbonization timescales are central to many energy and climate studies, we are missing a critical reflection about the politics behind time-making and temporality in transitions research. To shed light on the contested nature of time in energy and climate politics and explain the struggle over the temporal dynamics of transitions, we propose a stronger engagement with time based on the growing body of literature from Science and Technology Studies (STS). We argue that conceptualizing time—as co-produced and deeply intertwined not only with advances in science and technology, but also with the ordering of politics and society—allows us to contest a neutral, and apolitical framing of decarbonization timescales, transformation pathways, and mitigation trajectories. An STS-informed perspective on time-making brings to light societal struggles and competing ideas of social and political ordering attached to the different notions of temporality. This focus allows us to critically engage with the politics behind themes like climate emergencies, urgent decarbonization targets, or deadlines for phasing out fossil fuels. In forwarding this argument, we briefly revisit the role of time in energy and climate studies and take stock of earlier STS research on the construction of time and the politics of temporal orders. We conclude by discussing how an STS perspective on time can contribute to the research agenda outlined by Benjamin Sovacool and colleagues and suggest new frontiers for energy and climate research.
Published Version
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