Surprises up the energy ladder

Pascale, Andrew; Chakravarty, Shoibal; Lant, Paul; Smart, Simon; Greig, Chris

doi:10.14264/uql.2017.373

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Pachauri 2014and Pascale, Chakrabarti et al (2017) argue, however, that providing electricity access to households does not significantly increase CO2 emissions. They underscore that switching to low-carbon energy systems is a desirable option, but given the scale of energy poverty in India and its impact on people, the country may have no alternative if it targets to quick-fix the lack of electricity access problem.…”

Section: Million Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

Social constructs of energy poverty and the resulting capability deprivations in rural India

Malakar¹

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This PhD project studies energy poverty in rural India in order to understand its underlying social constructs and effect on people's well-being. A core inspiration for undertaking this research stems from my profound interest in understanding the way in which people's energy demands, energy sources, and services interact with their social systems, such as their day-today routines, established norms, well-accepted traditions, and culture. In so doing, this project aims to contribute towards achieving India's goal to universalise modern energy access to all. Presently, India suffers from longstanding energy poverty, with about 239 million people unconnected to electricity and about 800 million relying on harmful solid fuels for cooking. This study has three objectives: (1) to understand the links between people's livelihood practices and household decisions in relation to energy sources and services; (2) to understand how the energy poor's capabilities are influenced by their choice of energy sources; and (3) to understand the role that social structure has on persistent energy poverty and find out ways to break the energy poverty cycle. This project represents a niche of studies that investigate energy poverty from an undervalued realm of social science. It benefits from an emerging conceptualisation that strongly argues for a research lens that navigates beyond the economic and technological influences of energy systems and unpack the relationship between energy and society. This novel concept acknowledges that demand for energy is not for energy itself, but for undertaking services required by people as members of society. Energy, therefore, is intricately intertwined with social systems that shape people's needs, choices, decisions, and opportunities. To unpack this complex connection between energy and society, this project applies two prominent social theories: the Capability Approach (CA) and Structuration Theory. This research employs a qualitative approach of inquiry. Techniques applied for data collection comprise a set of in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observation. These techniques provide valuable groundwork for gathering a subjective understanding of people's life experiences, both individual and collective, values, societal dominations, and energy practices. Fieldwork for the study was undertaken in the Chittoor district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

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Section: Million Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

Social constructs of energy poverty and the resulting capability deprivations in rural India

Malakar¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Surprises up the energy ladder

Cited by 1 publication

References 10 publications

Social constructs of energy poverty and the resulting capability deprivations in rural India

Social constructs of energy poverty and the resulting capability deprivations in rural India

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