Newell, Peter and Phillips, Jon (2016) Neoliberal energy transitions in the South: Kenyan experiences. Geoforum, 74. pp. 39-48. ISSN 0016-7185

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Abstract

What is the relationship between the direction and form of an energy transition and the political economy within which it is embedded? This paper explores how the nature of (low carbon) energy transitions is strongly influenced by the process of neoliberalisation that shape energy policy in the South. We seek to understand emergent energy transitions and to advance their theorisation through an account of the political economy of energy transition in Kenya. In contrast to the often techno-managerial orientation of literatures on socio-technical transitions, we explore the political terrain upon which competing visions of energy futures and material interests collide and seek to accommodate one another. We develop a political economy account that emphasises the structural and disciplinary power of capital and global institutions to set the terms of transition. This expresses itself in both delimiting the autonomy of state actors and by reconfiguring domestic institutional and social power in ways that re-shape the distributional politics of transitions.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Global Studies > International Relations
Research Centres and Groups:	Centre for Global Political Economy
Subjects:	J Political Science > JQ Political institutions and public administration (Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Area, etc.) > JQ1870 Africa
Depositing User:	Peter Newell
Date Deposited:	26 Jan 2017 12:21
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2019 18:23
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/66473

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