Book contents
- Political Economies of Energy Transition
- Business and Public Policy
- Political Economies of Energy Transition
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 Political Economies of Energy Transition in Brazil and South Africa
- 2 Wind and Solar Power in the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy
- 3 States, Markets, and Energy Transition: Good Industrial Policy?
- 4 Electricity Consumption in Brazil and South Africa: Distribution and Prices
- 5 People and Place: Siting Wind and Solar Plants in Brazil and South Africa
- 6 Political Economies of Energy Transition
- References
- Index
6 - Political Economies of Energy Transition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2020
- Political Economies of Energy Transition
- Business and Public Policy
- Political Economies of Energy Transition
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 Political Economies of Energy Transition in Brazil and South Africa
- 2 Wind and Solar Power in the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy
- 3 States, Markets, and Energy Transition: Good Industrial Policy?
- 4 Electricity Consumption in Brazil and South Africa: Distribution and Prices
- 5 People and Place: Siting Wind and Solar Plants in Brazil and South Africa
- 6 Political Economies of Energy Transition
- References
- Index
Summary
The primary theoretical claim in this book is that “an” energy transition is actually a series of political economy transitions. The prospect of energy transition convokes actors and disputes in at least four policy arenas. Each has a different interest structure that should generate the participation of particular, different state and society actors. These interact with the country’s more conjunctural features and coalitional struggles to produce the actual dynamics of each political economy. The four may not push in the same direction; nor are they necessarily moving at the same pace. As a result, it is necessary to set them together, to see where one may exaggerate or undermine the outcomes of another. This chapter summarizes the basic logic of each policy arena then shows how they fit together in a bureaucracy-dominant transition in Brazil and a highly polarized and politicized impasse in South Africa. The chapter also explores how these political economies are likely to appear in other middle-income and developing countries and suggests the broader usefulness of this conceptualization of modes of national energy transitions.
Keywords
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- Political Economies of Energy TransitionWind and Solar Power in Brazil and South Africa, pp. 221 - 235Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020