Under the banner of "energy transition", energy-related stakes and issues stand high on the media and public policy agenda. But when it comes to the implementation of this transition, many debates and controversies arise. Energy issues engage a wealth of different actors and sectors, far beyond the technical developments. In the words of a student (March 2019), “people today literally inhabit energy systems”.
Since the spring of 2018, when a first version of this syllabus was written, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased by more than 2 ppm per year. The winter 2018-2019 was a time of debate about fuel taxation, (car) mobility, infrastructures, and climate change mitigation policies in France, triggered by a working-class mobilisation making themselves visible with their yellow safety vests. At the time of writing, in June 2020, a "citizens' climate convention" submitted its proposals for French policy. The question now is how to implement new public policies developed after this unique deliberation process. The COVID-19 crisis has shaken economies, but also the realm of the possible, and it opens up so many questions that much of the existing literature might seem outdated.
Yet the rationale behind this course affirms that state-of-the-art research in sociology and political science can provide valuable insights to understand ongoing change processes. We will engage with relationships between science, technology, society and policies in the energy and environment sector. We will support our understanding of their complex interplay with theories accounting for inertia or change, explaining dynamics, resting on case studies in the energy sector, in several countries and time periods.
This course is based on inputs from Science and Technology Studies (STS), a branch of sociology and history devoted to the study of science and technology issues, as well as insights from the sociology of opinion, and public policy analysis focusing on energy issues. This seminar has been enriched with students’ questions about the process of socio-technical change, engaging with policy and society.
The seminar is participatory and interactive, and students are welcome to share their insights and thoughts. Some debates will take place in the class. For the first class, students are requested to bring a newspaper or social media / internet article they find interesting about energy transition and the social. The outline of the course may be adjusted to deal with the students’ main concerns.
Session 1 (Sept. 29) Introduction to the course. Each student is requested to bring a newspaper or social media / internet article that triggered their interest, in relationship with the scope of the course.
Session 2 (Oct. 6) Transition, really ?
Session 3 (Oct. 13) The social dimensions of energy transitions – or Energy stakes hidden in non-energy policies
Session 4 (Oct. 20) The making of a centralised electricity system
Session 4 (Nov. 3) Nuclear energy, technopolitics and sociotechnical imaginaries
Session 5 (Nov. 10) How does sociotechnical change take place? Theory #1.
Session 6 (Nov. 17) How does sociotechnical change take place? Theory #2.
Session 7 (Nov. 24) Radical innovation, sociotechnical promises and democracy
Session 8 (Dec. 1) Wind energy policies and “green on green” controversies
Optional Session 9 (Dec. 8)
Visit of the showroom – EDF Lab, 7 boulevard Gaspard Monge, Palaiseau (1 km from Polytechnique)
- Profesor: Le Renard Claire
- Profesor: Wanlin Nicolas