Sunbath

Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment, 2013

This paper contributes to the development of an anthropological understanding of the emerging political economies of renewable energy in the contemporary United States. It explores efforts to develop place-based, local systems of renewable energy production and places them in the context of a larger history of the political economy and social construction of U.S. energy systems. Marked by emancipatory discourses of local self-reliance, decentralization, eco- logical sustainability, energy security, and community-scale governance, contemporary renewable energy initiatives bear a strong resemblance to the small-scale, grassroots energy actions that emerged during the energy crises of the 1970s. Both past and current local renewable energy efforts are also deeply embedded within and subject to contemporary regimes of environmental governance, ecological modernization, and neoliberal responses to ecological crises. Using emerging energy initiatives in Washington, DC as a case study, I discuss three key elements of the political and social construction of contemporary local renewable energy production—ownership, governance, and sustainable urban place-making—and examine the problematic theme of “localism” that links them. [renewable energy, neoliberalization, localism, political economy, United States]

Imagining solar communities: The governance and visuality of urban photovoltaics, 2022

Concerns about the environmental and social impacts of anthropogenic climate change have called into question the efficacy, efficiency, and equity of energy systems. People committed to renewable energy transitions, and those who defend fossil-based systems, are simultaneously envisioning energy futures and seeking to build them. In the process, they are changing both energy technologies and how social life is organized around them. In this dissertation, I examine how ideas and materialities around distributed solar power become inscribed into energy policies, etched into urban landscapes, and embedded into city life. These processes engender particular kinds of embodied communities, which I define as solar communities. I study the visual and affective dimensions of emerging solar communities in Arizona and Italy using the qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews, photo-documentation, and observation. The dissertation consists of three papers. In Chapter 2, I explore how rooftops are constructed as newly productive sites for electricity generation through economic, legal, cartographic, and political negotiations, and how they become sites of struggle over who has access to them. I describe a case study in Phoenix about a proposed change in compensation for residential rooftop solar customers and the affective dynamics of a protest around it. In Chapter 3, I examine how a variety of photovoltaic applications are appearing in urban landscapes in Treviso, Italy and Flagstaff, Arizona. I investigate how aesthetic and environmental values are imbued in the physical forms those installations ultimately take, and the role that in/visibility plays in shaping these decisions. I use photography to document these emergent solar communities and argue that there is value to seeing photovoltaics in your city. In Chapter 4, I describe a workshop I led on the human dimensions and ethical trade-offs of renewable energy transitions using interactive activities and case studies from Ethiopia and Appalachia. I show how decisions about energy transitions have far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, health, the way they work, and geopolitical relationships. Together, these chapters begin to form a picture of the governance around, and visuality of, photovoltaic designs that emerge as fixtures of both landscape and society, which in turn inform solar communities.

Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 2013

2021

Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 2016

Energy, Sustainability and Society, 2014

Solutions to the climate and energy crises will likely involve large scale renewable energy technology deployment and of renewable energy technologies in building energy systems and transportation systems. But they will also require changes in lifestyle, behavior, and social organization. Solar heating and bicycle use are well-developed technologies that exemplify social-technological hybrids. Davis, California, has established a national reputation as a bike-friendly city and has been an international leader in supporting energy efficient housing developments. Support, however, has waxed and waned over the years. Davis provides an ideal case study to explore the conditions necessary to develop a sustained community commitment to passive solar design and human powered transport at a scale large enough to make a difference. This analysis points to the importance of local politics, municipal identity tied to an energy or environmental vision, and the organization of social capital to influence broad-based technological choice. Les solutions aux problèmes d'énergie et de réchauffement climatique incluront très probablement un déploiement à grande échelle de technologie pour les énergies renouvelables dans la construction de systèmes énergétiques et de transport, mais elles exigeront également un changement de mode de vie, de comportement, et d'organisation sociale. Le chauffage solaire et l'utilisation de bicyclettes sont des technologies très au point, et qui constituent un exemple d'hybrides socio-technologiques. La ville de Davis en Californie s'est bâti une réputation de cité pro-cyclistes, et elle est un des leaders internationaux dans le développement de logements à basse consommation d'énergie. Toutefois, ce soutien est en déclin depuis plusieurs années. Davis constitue une étude de cas idéale pour explorer les conditions nécessaires au développement d'un attachement communautaire longue-durée à la promotion de l'ingénierie solaire passive, ainsi qu'aux moyens de locomotion propulsés par l'homme, à une échelle assez grande pour changer les choses. Cette analyse montre l'importance de la politique locale, celle d'une identité communale liée à une vision énergétique et environnementale, et celle de l'organisation du capital social pour influencer un choix général en termes de technologie. Las soluciones para las crisis climáticas y energéticas probablemente implicarán la utilización de tecnologías de energía renovable a gran escala para construir sistemas de energía y de transporte, pero también exigirán cambios en el estilo de vida, el comportamiento y la organización social. La calefacción solar y el uso de bicicletas son tecnologías bien desarrolladas que ejemplifican los híbridos socio-tecnológicos. La ciudad de Davis, California, ha conseguido reputación nacional como ciudad perfectamente adaptada al uso de bicicletas y ha sido líder internacional en el apoyo de planeamientos urbanos energéticamente eficientes. Sin embargo, el apoyo ha tenido altibajos a través de los años. Davis constituye un caso práctico ideal para analizar las condiciones necesarias para desarrollar un compromiso comunitario continuo con el diseño solar pasivo y el transporte de tracción humana a una escala suficientemente grande para marcar una diferencia. Este análisis señala la importancia de la política local, la identidad municipal ligada a una visión energética o medioambiental y la organización de capital social para influenciar una elección tecnológica amplia.

In this paper, we explore the potentialities and interconnections between existing and hypothetical community energy systems and the concept of generative justice. New York State's more recent official energy plan, for instance, includes provisions for community-scale microgrids, and several European nations offer significant financial support to citizens interested in building micro and intermediate-scale renewable energy systems. Such efforts and technologies appear to promise some degree of generative justice, returning much of the

2021