Unresolved tensions in green transitions: Retraining and the question of ‘how’?

Abstract

This commentary responds to Chantel Carr's ‘Repair and care’ through a focus on the vexed question of carbon-intensive worker retraining in the context of urgent and necessary decarbonisation and industry change in Australia. There are many parallels between my research and Carr's, particularly in relation to an understanding of the potential of existing technical skillsets in industrial working populations. Like Carr, I reflect upon my empirical research – over the past decade – with current and former industrial tradespeople. This commentary reflects on what ‘retraining’ has actually meant, in practice, for industrial workers in deindustrialising Australia. I then identify a key tension that exists in relation to the question of retraining carbon workers. Climate change mitigation calls for the dramatic and wide-ranging transformation of industries, infrastructure, jobs, and skillsets. But the fact remains, humans are complex, with diverse needs, and they are now more likely to articulate these needs on an individual level, not collectively. With this in mind – and in a background in which much academic work draws attention to complexities and institutional shortcomings – how do we balance individualised requirements with the need for dramatic, macro-level transformation?