Solar energy for all? Understanding the successes and shortfalls through a critical comparative assessment of Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Mozambique, Sri Lanka and South Africa

Kumar, Ankit; Ferdous, Raihana; Luque-Ayala, Andrés; McEwan, Cheryl; Power, Marcus; Turner, Britta; Bulkeley, Harriet

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2018.10.005

Cited by 68 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…What constitutes 'energy access' however remains a contested issue in both policy and scholarly literature, where aspects of basic needs and the quality, reliability and affordability of particular energy services are given different emphasis by different approaches (Kumar et al, 2019). While initial approaches tended to frame energy access as a single step transition, there is now greater recognition of energy access as a continuum of improvements -reflected in the multi-tier framework adopted by the UN and the World Bank.…”

Section: From "Counting Installations" Towards Diffusion In Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The need to re-examine the ways in which transitions towards sustainable energy provision can be achieved, as called for by these authors, brings together two related concerns. Firstly a concern that development benefits, particularly in relation to the assumed impact of solar lighting on education, livelihoods and health may not materialise in the manner imagined (Cloke, Mohr, & Brown, 2017;Kumar, 2018) or may not endure over time (Kumar et al, 2019). Secondly, and particularly pertinent for this paper a concern that the processes of creating and facilitating markets for small scale solar have political and socio-cultural effects beyond the achievement of energy access (Ockwell et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Turner

2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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Section: From "Counting Installations" Towards Diffusion In Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Turner

2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…Product and project designs that are more open and readily facilitate local improvisations will help introduce of metis into designs repeatedly. Such fluid designs might be less governable but will be more attuned to local contexts, and therefore endure longer (Kumar et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between metis and techne: politics, possibilities and limits of improvisation

Kumar

2019

Social & Cultural Geography

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Geographers, especially those working in developing country contexts have often encountered improvisation because it plays a critical social and cultural role. Engaging with anthropologist James Scott's conceptualisation of metiscontextual, practical and flexible skills and knowledgeand techneuniversal technical knowledgethis paper furthers the geographical scholarship on the politics of improvisation.The paper makes three main contributions. First, using metis and techne, it provides a new conceptual repertoire for making sense of improvisation. The paper places improvisation at the nexus of metis and techne. Second, it pushes the understanding of the morality of improvisation by attending to the role of relationships of power in morally and materially legitimising improvisations. Third, although states and experts celebrate and actively engage with improvisation, this paper demonstrates that they also create limits and boundaries for improvisation. These limits demonstrate a contradiction in experts' actions. This paper is based on a nine months ethnographic research on two energy projects carried out in 2012-13 in five villages in Bihar, an eastern state of India. It used participant observations, home tours, interviews and group discussions.Entre mètis et technè: politique, possibilités et limites de l'improvisation RÉSUMÉ Les géographes, tout particulièrement ceux qui travaillent dans le contexte des pays en développement, ont souvent abordé la notion d'improvisation pour son rôle social et culturel essentiel. En discutant les conceptualisations de mètis par James Scott (1998)en tant qu'ensemble de compétences et de savoirs contextuels, pratiques et flexibleset de technèen tant que savoir technique universel -, cet article fait progresser la recherche géographique sur les politiques de l'improvisation.L'article y contribue de trois façons. Il propose dans un premier temps un nouveau répertoire conceptuel pour comprendre ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…Note the reference to lighting as a “basic.” This idea of “basic” is deeply embedded in the development discourse surrounding lighting in the global South too. Scholars and practitioners of energy access focus on “basic needs” that can be derived from energy like lighting, entertainment, and cooking (Kumar et al., ). More recently, the World Bank put such “basic needs” in a hierarchy framework to guide and assess the progress of energy access work, placing lighting at the most important tier‐1 level of “basic need.”…”

Section: Comparing Rural Lightscapes In India and The Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming rural light and dark under planetary urbanisation: Comparing ordinary countrysides in India and the UK

Kumar

Shaw

2019

Trans Inst British Geog

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Contemporary global lightscapes are becoming increasingly complex and varied, creating an unusual geography of technological development and diffusion that defies many easy narratives of global interconnectivity. Specifically, new LED lighting technologies are being created through rural experimentation in both Global North and Global South. This makes lighting, and darkness, an interesting lens through which to intervene in debates on the relationship between city, countryside, and planet, specifically addressing the theoretical developments of comparative urbanism and planetary urbanisation. Heading calls to develop conceptual material from both Global North and Global South, we use case studies from Bihar (India) and the North Pennines (UK) to argue that the changing lighting technologies and practices show how “ordinary countrysides” are contributing to new planetary ways of living. We argue that while there are differences in how darkness and the implementation of artificial lighting are perceived in these sites, there are similarities that reveal an ongoing rural form of planetary living, outside the claims of urbanisation. Particularly, rural lives are marked by a closer connection to the planet, as expressed through experiences of rural darkness. Furthermore, in both sites the tenuous grasp on infrastructure and state services seems to reveal a shared rural experience. These findings suggest shared rural experiences of globalisation, but that the socio‐spatial contexts of places remain important in understanding their location within global systems. Furthermore, we join recent calls to suggest that further exploration of the difference between “global” and “planetary” might add nuance to theoretical trends in urban studies, rural studies, and geography.

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Solar energy for all? Understanding the successes and shortfalls through a critical comparative assessment of Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Mozambique, Sri Lanka and South Africa

Cited by 68 publications

References 37 publications

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Between metis and techne: politics, possibilities and limits of improvisation

Transforming rural light and dark under planetary urbanisation: Comparing ordinary countrysides in India and the UK

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