- 10 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Jon Phillips
SOAS University of London, Development Studies, Faculty Member
Analysis of precarity has offered a critique of labour market experiences and politically induced conditions of work, housing, migration, or essential services. This paper develops an infrastructural politics of precarity by analysing... more
Analysis of precarity has offered a critique of labour market experiences and politically induced conditions of work, housing, migration, or essential services. This paper develops an infrastructural politics of precarity by analysing energy as a critical sphere of social and ecological reproduction. We employ precarity to understand how gendered and racialised vulnerability to energy deprivation is induced through political processes. In turn, analysis of energy illustrates socio-material processes of precarity, produced and contested through infrastructure. Our argument is developed through scalar analysis of energy precarity in urban South Africa, a country that complicates a North-South framing of debates on both precarity and energy. We demonstrate how energy precarity can be reproduced or destabilised through: social and material relations of housing, tenure, labour and infrastructure; the formation of gendered and racialized energy subjects; and resistance and everyday practices. We conclude that analysis of infrastructure provides insights on how precarity is contested as a shared condition and on the prospect of systemic change through struggles over distribution and production.
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In the chapter, we discuss the key issue of how to envisage a just, fair and equitable energy transformation in the South African context. We argue that the move towards a new energy landscape cannot simply be described as a transition,... more
In the chapter, we discuss the key issue of how to envisage a just, fair and equitable energy transformation in the South African context. We argue that the move towards a new energy landscape cannot simply be described as a transition, but more accurately (in light of the need to involve multiple scales and actors, and to manage complex development outcomes) as a societal transformation. We also ask the key question of what a just and equitable transformation might look like in the context of South Africa in 2030. The chapter was co-written by scholars with multiple theoretical perspectives and backgrounds, and by practitioners at Sustainable Energy Africa, a Cape Town-based organisation centrally involved in promoting urban energy transformations that are both low carbon and equitable.
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In this paper, we argue for a multiscalar focus on the governance of energy policy and practice. This perspective reveals the translation of agendas and policies across scales stretching from the global to the local. We analyse South... more
In this paper, we argue for a multiscalar focus on the governance of energy policy and practice. This perspective reveals the translation of agendas and policies across scales stretching from the global to the local. We analyse South Africa's energy landscape, which is influenced by: a highly complex and dynamic set of generation and production networks, policy strategies, multiple state and non-state actors, and the continuing impact of apartheid. In the paper, we establish a dialogue between Actor-Network Theory and studies of socio-technical transitions to analyse the translation and purification of discourses and practices across scales, and to consider how these processes may impact on spatialised processes of energy transition.
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This paper argues that the distribution of electricity represents an important yet neglected aspect of the politics of energy transitions. In recent years, South Africa's electricity sector has seen the introduction of new actors and... more
This paper argues that the distribution of electricity represents an important yet neglected aspect of the politics of energy transitions. In recent years, South Africa's electricity sector has seen the introduction of new actors and technologies, including the 'prosumer' (producer-consumer) of electricity and small-scale embedded generation from roof-top solar photovoltaics. We analyse these recent developments in historical context and consider implications for contemporary planning, regulation and ownership of electricity. We find that the reconfiguration of electricity distribution faces significant political and economic challenges that are rooted in the country's socioeconomic and racial inequalities and its heavy dependence on coal-fired power. First small-scale embedded generation offers potential opportunities for affordable, decentralised, low-carbon energy, yet disruption to the coal-powered electric grid and the monopoly of South Africa's electricity utility has been minimal to date. Second, small-scale embedded generation creates tensions between equitable and low-carbon energy transitions and threatens critical revenue from the country's wealthy consumers that cross-subsidises electricity services for the poor and other municipal public services. Third, the South African experience queries common assumptions about the democratic potential of decentralised governance. Fourth, South Africa provides insights of global significance into how political institutions have responded to social and technological drivers of change, in a context where planning and regulation have followed rather than led infrastructural developments. While energy policy remains unresponsive or resistant to social and technological change, there remain significant political, economic, technical and regulatory challenges to a just and inclusive energy transition.
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Recent literature on Sino-African resource politics emphasizes the agency of African elites in relation to Chinese capital and state agencies, yet whether African elites have gained agency over the structure of African economies remains... more
Recent literature on Sino-African resource politics emphasizes the agency
of African elites in relation to Chinese capital and state agencies, yet
whether African elites have gained agency over the structure of African
economies remains debatable. This article questions how agency has
been understood in analyses of Sino-Africa relations by identifying the
nature and limits of Ghanaian agency in bilateral and multilateral aid
relations since the discovery of oil in 2007. First, although the agency of
Ghanaian elites has shaped the outcomes of recent bilateral investments,
Ghanaian state agency has been exercised primarily in brokering external
sources of finance and in relation to domestic institutions and political
factions. Second, Chinese investment did shift the aid modalities and the
relative power of Ghana’s traditional development partners, but international finance institutions and US agencies maintained influence over
macro-economic governance and sectoral policy, respectively. As such,
the scope of Ghanaian agency in relation to external finance and bilateral
and multilateral relations was narrow, and market orthodoxies of development remained dominant. Undue attribution of agency over economic and political structures can be avoided by situating African agency within the social and material context of transnational industries.
of African elites in relation to Chinese capital and state agencies, yet
whether African elites have gained agency over the structure of African
economies remains debatable. This article questions how agency has
been understood in analyses of Sino-Africa relations by identifying the
nature and limits of Ghanaian agency in bilateral and multilateral aid
relations since the discovery of oil in 2007. First, although the agency of
Ghanaian elites has shaped the outcomes of recent bilateral investments,
Ghanaian state agency has been exercised primarily in brokering external
sources of finance and in relation to domestic institutions and political
factions. Second, Chinese investment did shift the aid modalities and the
relative power of Ghana’s traditional development partners, but international finance institutions and US agencies maintained influence over
macro-economic governance and sectoral policy, respectively. As such,
the scope of Ghanaian agency in relation to external finance and bilateral
and multilateral relations was narrow, and market orthodoxies of development remained dominant. Undue attribution of agency over economic and political structures can be avoided by situating African agency within the social and material context of transnational industries.
Research Interests:
We provide a political economy analysis of two interventions in Kenya that promise to meet climate change and development aims: (i) incentives for the private sector to produce electricity from renewable sources; (ii) a Climate Change... more
We provide a political economy analysis of two interventions in Kenya that promise to meet climate change and development aims: (i) incentives for the private sector to produce electricity from renewable sources; (ii) a Climate Change Action Plan to mainstream climate change in government policy. Support for climate compatible development may be gained through interventions that operate within existing landscapes of power, but dominant framings of energy and development constrain the prospect of pro-poor, climate resilient, low carbon energy services in the developing world. Ultimately, trade-offs between different policy objectives will be resolved through unequal relations of power.
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Introduction: How might territory in the deep oceans be practised differently from more familiar terrestrial environments? In this chapter I consider the reterritorialisation of space that enables offshore oil production and... more
Introduction: How might territory in the deep oceans be practised differently from more familiar terrestrial environments? In this chapter I consider the reterritorialisation of space that enables offshore oil production and countervailing processes of deterritorialisation that have complicated the practice of territory. Oil companies are concerned with the discovery and extraction of materials that are territorially bound in geological deposits, whereas the ocean environments that they encounter are by their nature in flux, constantly moving independent of human efforts to calculate and to control territory. In contrast to deterritorialised industries and globalized flows of capital, the oil industry remains closely tied to place, yet operates in environments where place is continually reformed by the movement of water and all that moves with it and through it. This temporal-spatial disjuncture between the ocean and the subterranean world is associated with distinct practices of territorial control that have been both enabled and constrained by the material conditions under which the offshore oil industry operates.
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What is the relationship between the direction and form of an energy transition and the political economy within which it is embedded? This paper explores how the nature of (low carbon) energy transitions is strongly influenced by the... more
What is the relationship between the direction and form of an energy transition and the political economy within which it is embedded? This paper explores how the nature of (low carbon) energy transitions is strongly influenced by the process of neoliberalisation that shape energy policy in the South. We seek to understand emergent energy transitions and to advance their theorisation through an account of the political economy of energy transition in Kenya. In contrast to the often techno-managerial orientation of literatures on socio-technical transitions, we explore the political terrain upon which competing visions of energy futures and material interests collide and seek to accommodate one another. We develop a political economy account that emphasises the structural and disciplinary power of capital and global institutions to set the terms of transition. This expresses itself in both delimiting the autonomy of state actors and by reconfiguring domestic institutional and social power in ways that shape the distributional politics of transitions.
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Despite the growth in work linking climate change and national level development agendas, there has been limited attention to their political economy. These processes mediate the winners, losers and potential trade-offs between different... more
Despite the growth in work linking climate change and national level development agendas, there has been limited attention to their political economy. These processes mediate the winners, losers and potential trade-offs between different goals, and the political and institutional factors which enable or inhibit integration across different policy areas. This paper applies a political economy analysis to case studies on low carbon energy in Kenya and carbon forestry in Mozambique. In examining the intersection of climate and development policy, we demonstrate the critical importance of politics, power and interests when climate-motivated initiatives encounter wider and more complex national policy contexts, which strongly influence the prospects of achieving integrated climate policy and development goals in practice. We advance the following arguments: First, understanding both the informal nature and historical embeddedness of decision making around key issue areas and resource sectors of relevance to climate change policy is vital to engaging actually existing politics; why actors hold the positions they do and how they make decisions in practice. Second, we need to understand and engage with the interests, power relations and policy networks that will shape the prospects of realising climate policy goals; acting as barriers in some cases and as vehicles for change in others. Third, by looking at the ways in which common global drivers have very different impacts upon climate change policy once refracted through national levels institutions and policy processes, it is easier to understand the potential and limits of translating global policy into local practice. And fourth, climate change and development outcomes, and the associated trade-offs, look very different depending on how they are framed, who frames them and in which actor coalitions. Understanding these can inform the levers of change and power to be navigated, and with whom to engage in order to address climate change and development goals.
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The idea of a resource curse has influenced policy makers and led to calls for good governance to avoid the pitfalls of oil sector development. Through discussion of Ghana’s recent insertion into the global political economy of oil, this... more
The idea of a resource curse has influenced policy makers and led to calls for good governance to avoid the pitfalls of oil sector development. Through discussion of Ghana’s recent insertion into the global political economy of oil, this paper describes the limits of the resource curse framing and associated liberal institutional management approaches to the inherently political nature of oil exploration and production. The paper describes ways in which sovereignty has been exercised both in opposition to and in support of foreign capital, and the role of discourses of ‘good governance’ in structuring the material politics of resource access.
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There is growing international focus on how to support more integrated approaches to addressing climate change in ways that capture synergies and minimise the trade-offs between climate change mitigation, adaptation and development. These... more
There is growing international focus on how to support more integrated approaches to addressing climate change in ways that capture synergies and minimise the trade-offs between climate change mitigation, adaptation and development. These aims are embodied in the concept of climate compatible development (CCD). But what does this look like in practice in Kenya? With a National Action Plan on Climate Change, a Vision 2030 Strategy, a new constitution and a revised Energy Policy, Kenya is at a critical cross-roads with respect to defining its energy future for the years to come. The challenge is to enable a just transition to a lower carbon economy that delivers poverty reduction and climate resilience at the same time. But thinking about who sets the terms of transition and for whom, raises key political questions about the role of actors, interests and institutions in the energy sector. In other words, who has the power to change power? This paper explores the role of politics, actors and institutions in enabling or frustrating the pursuit of climate compatible energy development in Kenya. This is a critical time for Kenya in deciding its energy future and whether and how it will aim to make it ‘climate compatible’. Issues of power and political economy will play a key role in determining technological and social outcomes: the winners and losers from different energy pathways and on whose terms and how the trade-offs between competing policy objectives are resolved. In particular political economy analysis helps to understand the potential for energy systems to meet climate, development and adaptation needs simultaneously.
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Is it possible for Kenya to simultaneously tackle energy poverty, contribute to climate change mitigation and reduce exposure to climate vulnerability? There is growing international focus on how to support more integrated approaches to... more
Is it possible for Kenya to simultaneously tackle energy poverty, contribute to climate change mitigation and reduce exposure to climate vulnerability? There is growing international focus on how to support more integrated approaches to addressing climate change in ways that capture synergies and minimise the trade-offs between climate change mitigation, adaptation and development. These aims are embodied in the concept of climate compatible development (CCD). But what does this look like in practice in Kenya?
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Despite significant technological advances in emerging economies, the further development of clean energy technologies in developing countries remains crucial to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with economic development.... more
Despite significant technological advances in emerging economies, the further development of clean energy technologies in developing countries remains crucial to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with economic development. In this paper we address two significant gaps in the growing body of literature that has assessed the role of the Clean Development Mechanism in promoting the transfer of clean technologies to developing countries. First, we present a qualitative analysis of the governance of the Clean Development Mechanism in India. This provides a basis for understanding the extent to which and the ways in which governance may impact upon the likelihood that projects promote technology transfer. Second, we provide a novel quantification of the level and nature of technology transfer that has occurred in Indian Clean Development Mechanism projects, based on insights from literature on technological capability building. We find that the Clean Development Mechanism in India has produced a negligible number of projects that promote technology transfer if technology transfer is understood as a process of learning about technology. Together these qualitative and quantitative analyses show how politics and governance have contributed to the current form of the Clean Development Mechanism market in India, in which processes of building indigenous technological capabilities have been neglected.
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This paper explores the ways in which clean energy is being governed in India. It does so in order to improve our understanding of the potential and limitations of carbon finance in supporting lower carbon energy transitions, and to... more
This paper explores the ways in which clean energy is being governed in India. It does so in order to improve our understanding of the potential and limitations of carbon finance in supporting lower carbon energy transitions, and to strengthen our appreciation of the role of politics in enabling or frustrating such endeavors. In particular we emphasize the importance of politics and the nature of India's political economy in understanding the development of energy sources and technologies defined as ‘clean’ both by the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and leading international actors. By considering the broad range of institutions that exert formal and informal political influence over how the benefits and costs of the CDM are distributed, the paper highlights shortcomings in the narrow way in which CDM governance has been conceptualized to date. This approach goes beyond analysis of technocratic aspects of governance – often reduced to a set of institutional design issues – in order to appreciate the political nature of the trade-offs that characterise debates about India's energy future and the relations of power which will determine how, and on whose terms, they are resolved.
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Global policies and instruments to tackle climate change look very different once translated into domestic programmes of action, reflecting varied institutional capacity, competing priorities, and diverse political cultures and political... more
Global policies and instruments to tackle climate change look very different once translated into domestic programmes of action, reflecting varied institutional capacity, competing priorities, and diverse political cultures and political economies. In light of these variations, this article analyses how clean energy is governed in India, both through and beyond the Clean Development Mechanism. Governance processes are assessed across a number of scales, including various actors involved in mobilising finance and providing political and institutional support for clean energy. The nature of these relationships ultimately determines the nature of the relationship between policy goals such as energy security, alleviation of energy poverty and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Understanding these governance dimensions is therefore critical to assessing prospects for low carbon energy transitions in rapidly industrialising countries such as India.
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This paper explores the opportunities for a ‘just transition’ to low carbon and sustainable energy systems; one that addresses the current inequities in the distribution of energy benefits and their human and ecological costs. In order to... more
This paper explores the opportunities for a ‘just transition’ to low carbon and sustainable energy systems; one that addresses the current inequities in the distribution of energy benefits and their human and ecological costs. In order to prioritize policies that address energy poverty alleviation and sustainability concerns, national action and higher levels of international cooperation and coordination are required to steer public policy towards a broader range of public interests. This also implies re-directing the vast sums of private energy finance that currently serve a narrow set of interests. This paper considers how national and global energy governance must adapt and change to ensure a just transition to low carbon and sustainable energy systems. Creating a low carbon and sustainable energy transition will face significant challenges in overcoming opposition from a broad array of interest groups. The challenges of guiding a just transition are amplified by the relinquishing of government control over the energy sector in many countries and the current weak and fragmented state of global energy governance. The necessary changes in energy decision making will entail complex trade-offs and rebound effects that make strong, participatory and transparent institutional arrangements essential in order to govern such challenges equitably. In this respect, procedural justice is critical to achieving distributive justice and to creating a simultaneously rapid, sustainable and equitable transition to clean energy futures.
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The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forms a key part of the international community’s attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but continues to fall short on its promise to provide sustainable development benefits in developing... more
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forms a key part of the international community’s attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but continues to fall short on its promise to provide sustainable development benefits in developing countries. Research by the Governance of Clean Development Project suggests that current reform agendas will do little to rectify this unless important aspects of the politics and governance of clean development are addressed. This briefing outlines the need to change the political relationships that determine who benefits from the CDM, which go beyond reducing market transaction costs or overhauling the formal institutions of CDM governance. Policies are required that recognise these challenges and create opportunities to drive significant changes in how governance works for both climate and development.
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This report builds on a side event at the Ninth Session of the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum (WUF9), held in Kuala Lumpur, 8-13 February 2018. The side event aimed to stimulate discussion around the potential for ‘urban experiments’ to... more
This report builds on a side event at the Ninth Session of the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum (WUF9), held in Kuala Lumpur, 8-13 February 2018. The side event aimed to stimulate discussion around the potential for ‘urban experiments’ to contribute to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. It summarises some of the key learnings from the audience discussion and feedback.