The geography of socio‐technical transitions: Transition–periphery dynamics

Abstract

The literature on socio‐technical transitions analyses multi‐scale, nonlinear changes in societal systems, but has tended to ignore the geography of these changes. This paper addresses this gap by focusing on a geographical periphery, rather than on the urban core, and considers a transition–periphery framework to provide a way to conceptualise and examine the dynamics of resource peripheries within a socio‐technical transition. The concepts of socio‐technical transitions and resource peripheries have been connected in previous work examining wind energy projects in Scotland. This study extends that work by refining its framework, explicitly drawing from the concept of peripheralisation as a process, and applying the framework to a wider set of contexts. The focus of peripheralisation is on the processes involved in creating peripheries rather than simply the periphery as a geographic location. This attention to peripheralisation uncovers the multi‐dimensional, relational, and multi‐scalar relationships and processes of the dynamics within resource peripheries during a socio‐technical transition. This paper draws on a set of energy policy case study sites in Scotland, including the North Yell Tidal Scheme, the proposed Shetland interconnector, and the Cruachan and Coire Glas Pumped Hydro schemes. It argues that transition–periphery dynamics are an effective analytical tool for understanding the geographically uneven multi‐scalar dynamics created as socio‐technical transitions occur.

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The agroecological transition in Senegal: transnational links and uneven empowerment

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