Deep entanglements: History, space and (energy) struggle in the German Energiewende

Abstract

This paper contributes to recent debates in energy geography, especially to energy transition research and literature, by developing a critical and empirically grounded understanding of energy transitions as expressions of contentious socio-spatial politics, past and present. The paper argues that historical struggles and contentious political practices around energy, so called energy struggles, continue to inform the ongoing and dynamic socio-spatial politics of energy transitions today and often manifest themselves in transition narratives. This analysis is supported by qualitative empirical materials derived from recent fieldwork in Berlin, Germany, which was conducted within the broader left-green movement for a socioecological and democratic German Energiewende. A historicisation of contentious politics and energy struggles facilitates an empirically robust framing of energy transition projects as dynamic, multi-actor, and more than eco-technical processes. The paper's contribution to energy geographies is threefold; firstly, utilising an empirically robust and historically sensitive analysis of the German Energiewende, the paper explores the deep entanglements of history, space and struggle in energy transitions. Secondly, the paper emphasises the need to understand energy transitions as constituted by energy struggles and contentious politics, past and present. Thirdly, the paper examines emergent spaces of energy democracy as part of the Energiewende and explores recent energy democracy demands as a spatial politics of energy transitions.

Smart Energy in a Smart City: Utopia or Reality? Evidence from Poland

“…There are similar trends in the popularization of urban RES in Poland's neighbor, Germany. There, it is being popularized via the energy transition known as Energiewende, which refers to the ongoing energy experiment to create sustainable energy transitions (SETs) by (radically and) increasingly selecting renewable energy sources and systems while abandoning the unsustainable use of energy resources [158,159]. This is also evident in German cities, the best example of which is Munich.…”

Re-interpreting re-municipalization: finding equilibrium

“…This leads those authors to conclude that remunicipalization demonstrates a step towards the rejection of business principles in local public service delivery. For instance, Paul (2018) and Routledge, Cumbers, and Derickson (2018) suggest that remunicipalization can be read as a set of mobilisations against the neoliberal state, which follows a "dominant . .…”

“…The literature on remunicipalization posits that municipalities are increasingly rejecting contracting-out and privatization in favor of in-house delivery of public services. A frequent interpretation of this finding is that remunicipalization therefore demonstrates a step towards the rejection of business-like local public service delivery (Becker, Beveridge, and Naumann 2015;Becker, Naumann, and Moss 2017;Beveridge, Hüesker, and Naumann 2014;Cumbers 2012;Paul 2018;Pigeon et al 2012;Routledge, Cumbers, and Derickson 2018). This view of remunicipalization as an ideological trend is not uncommon, but may be inaccurate (McDonald 2018).…”

“…Some researchers, using the term "remunicipalization" to describe such reversals, and using mostly non-quantitative techniques, suggest that these reversals of privatization attest to an ideological countermovement to privatization, mostly in Europe (Becker, Beveridge, and Naumann 2015;Becker, Naumann, and Moss 2017;Beveridge, Hüesker, and Naumann 2014;Cumbers 2012;Paul 2018;Pigeon et al 2012;Routledge, Cumbers, and Derickson 2018). However, other studies refute this claim.…”

Energy democracy as the right to the city: Urban energy struggles in Berlin and London

“…To understand ongoing struggles and developments around urban energy politics, it is necessary to embed current events into longer-standing context conditions evolving from past conflicts and grown constellations of actors and power (Paul, 2018). In Berlin, long characterised by failed hopes of urban growth, a debt crisis and the privatisation of communal assets (Krätke, 2004), energy had not been a core topic of public discourse and policy, either for state or for social movement actors.…”