Energy Communities reclaiming and mediating local energy conflicts

Abstract (English)

Efforts toward decarbonization have driven the expansion of large-scale renewable energy generation projects, putting pressure on territories for their construction and sitting. I explore how the energy of collective actions resisting (renewable) energy megaprojects can diverge toward producing prosperous energy for local communities, envisioning these communities as key agents in fostering more peaceful (Galtung, 1971) local energy transitions.
I propose integrating insights from feminist approaches to ethnographies of infrastructure and care, and studies on asymmetric power conflicts (Hård, 1993). This is done by examining two cases of local disputes over thermal power plants: one in the Basque Country, Spain, and another in Punta de Choros, Chile (Baigorrotegui y Santander, 2018). These ethnographies allow me to explore associative and dissociative modes in which some energy communities may act as agencies where friends and enemies can come into contact, move apart, or experience a mix of proximity and distance between different factions.
Energy communities could function as conflict transformers, facilitating disputes and negotiations less hostilely (Eichenauer and Gailing, 2022, Baptiste et al., 2022). Finally, I highlight the active role of analysts and researchers in conflict settings, emphasizing the need to conceive research methodologies as social devices in contexts of vulnerability and violence.