Politics Of Sustainability Transitions Research Articles

Microgrids and the politics of sustainability transitions: A sociotechnical, multi-coalition perspective

This study advances theory in the politics of sustainability transitions by 1) developing a type of sociotechnical perspective that follows politics into the details of regulatory conflict over system design, 2) analyzing transition politics as a multi-coalition policy field beyond an intra-industry challenger-incumbent relationship, and 3) showing how political conflict includes broader societal change issues. The study also advances empirical research by examining microgrid policy in California and identifying issues that will likely emerge in other parts of the world with growing microgrid deployment. Central issues identified are local and third-party control over front-of-the-meter systems, equity concerns about cost shifting and access by marginalized communities, the tension between broad decarbonization goals and the use of fossil fuels, and the increased importance of local governments and distribution actors in electricity systems. The analytical framework is used to deepen understanding of the causal conditions that affect the outcomes of the conflicts.

Sustainability transitions and policy dismantling: Zero carbon housing in the UK

In this paper we examine the failure of the zero carbon homes agenda in the UK and argue that it represents a case of policy dismantling, where a range of policies and programmes have been introduced, revised and then removed by government. We bring together the sustainability transitions literature with the literature on policy dismantling, regime resistance and regime detractors, and suggest that the zero carbon housing agenda in the UK offers useful insights into the politics of sustainability transitions. We identify three phases of policy change, from policy expansion, symbolic dismantling and eventual active policy dismantling. In the conclusions we offer some suggestions on processes of policy dismantling and what this might mean for future sustainability transitions given the significant contributions of buildings to greenhouse gas emissions and the urgent need for rapid low carbon transitions.

Energy democracy and social movements: A multi-coalition perspective on the politics of sustainability transitions

This study develops research on social movements, political coalitions, and sustainability transitions with a multi-coalition perspective. The perspective begins with a typology of coalitions based on two pairs of goals—general societal change versus the sociotechnical transition of an industry or technological system, and sunrising versus sunsetting of systems and structures. Mapping the diversity of energy-transition coalitions makes it possible not only to identify the various wings of a broader industrial transition movement in a specified time and place but also to show the dynamics of how coalitions interact and change over time. Drawing on case studies of four energy-transition coalitions in New York State that approximate the four ideal types, the study shows differences in the goals, strategies, organizational composition, and frames of the coalitions. The study then shows the mechanisms that enable integration across coalitions, including the role of bridge brokers and new frames. As the networks of the energy-transition coalitions become more connected, the organizations make use of a wider set of frames, including the newer frame of energy democracy. Thus, the study develops an approach to the study of energy democracy that shows how it can serve as a frame that bridge brokers use to integrate coalitions.

Politics of Energy Transitions: A decade after Nigeria's biofuels crusade, a tale of non‐commercialization and lost opportunities

AbstractThere is a growing literature on the politics of sustainability transitions and its correlation with policy changes at the national level. This paper contributes to this debate by taking stock of energy transition processes in Nigeria's biofuels sector. It explores the socio‐economic externalities that influenced the biofuels policy, how this policy process was negotiated and why it failed. Based on expert interviews and document analysis, it was observed that a drop in oil production and the need for economic diversification (GDP growth) created a favourable condition for the development of biofuels in 2005. However, the biofuels policy was insufficiently articulated when the window of opportunity opened. In the last 10 years, fluctuations in oil prices and changes in government have closed the window of opportunity for biofuels. Taken together, the results suggest that to successfully engineer transition, policy processes of this nature require a re‐articulation of vision based on emerging externalities. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Water and the politics of sustainability transitions: from regime actor conflicts to system governance organizations

ABSTRACTThis study contributes to the analysis of the politics of sustainability transitions by developing a focus on regime actor conflicts and a processual model for how these conflicts develop and are resolved. In a comparison of water-supply systems in four U.S. cities, we show how conflicts among regime actors and political jurisdictions lead to the formation of system governance organizations (SGOs) that bridge jurisdictional boundaries to manage conflicts over a technological system (TS). SGOs coordinate relations among water utilities and diverse stakeholders to reduce pervasive conflicts, but they can also serve as drivers of improved sustainability. We analyze resistance that can emerge, such as from urban growth coalitions, which limit the capacity of SGOs to drive changes. We develop a four-stage processual model (first-order regime conflicts, SGO formation, sustainability transition expansion, and second-order regime conflicts) that opens research in the politics of transitions to the dynamic of regime actor conflicts and provides the basis for generalizations about the causes of SGO formation and their effects on the governance of TSs such as water-supply infrastructure. Policy implications regarding how to improve political support for SGO sustainability efforts are also discussed.

Local matters: Political opportunities, spatial scale, and support for green jobs policies

Research on the politics of sustainability transitions can benefit from more attention to the political opportunity structure and its variation at different levels of spatial scale. The study focuses on policy conflicts in the U.S. as represented in the media during the Obama administration years of 2007–2013, when the opportunity structure became increasingly closed. Energy-transition policies were often framed as green jobs and green economic development to overcome opposition from regime actors and conservative politicians. We show that media reports of the policies at the national and global level are less positive than at the local and state-government level. Furthermore, articles that quote from business leaders tend to be more positive. Scalar variation in political opportunities is of general interest for the politics of transitions, especially in countries where conservative parties control national governments and oppose sustainability policy development.

The politics of sustainability transitions

Sustainability transitions are processes of fundamental social change in response to societal challenges (Grin, Rotmans, & Schot, 2010; Markard, Raven, & Truffer, 2012). They reflect a particular d...

Engaging with the politics of sustainability transitions

Although recent scholarship has contributed to our understanding of sustainability transitions, more needs to be done to grasp the politics of these processes. What works and what does not work is being sorted out in the world of practical politics. But social science could contribute by drawing lessons from political experience and offering theoretical insights.