Energy and
energy infrastructures are not merely physical matters but are highly
politicised and subject of social negotiations surrounding infrastructures,
production, consumption practices, and sustainability. In the early days of
sociological theorising, “energy” was a basic concept of the discipline.
However, with the establishment of sociology after the two world wars,
questions about the environment, energy, resources, and infrastructures were
increasingly detached from the social sciences. However, with the emergence of
science and technology studies (STS) and actor-network theory (ANT), the energy
humanities have produced new innovative theories and studies over the last
three decades, which also point to the need for sociological research and
action.
In the first part of the seminar, we will first reconstruct classic theoretical contributions on “energy and society”. We will then work on research methods from technological ethnography, STS and ANT and look at current social science studies on topics such as the energy transition, self-sufficiency, smart electrification, and energy saving. In the second part of the seminar, we will go on short excursions to actors from the energy sector, e.g. a smart city show-case project of the municipal utilities, the energy infrastructures of the university, an organic farm, the low-energy building sector, etc. We will discuss what contribution sociological perspectives and methods can make to infrastructure design.
The academic achievement for all seminar participants is the submission of four reading responses to the texts discussed in the seminar on Moodle as well as support in the preparation of one of the excursions in small groups. The examination is the documentation of one of the excursions in the form of a research report. The prerequisite for participation is the willingness to actively participate in the seminar and to read texts in English.
Selected Readings:
– Abram, Simone, Brit Ross Winthereik, und Thomas Yarrow. 2019. Electrifying Anthropology: Exploring Electrical Practices and Infrastructures. Bloomsbury Academic.
– Boyer, Dominic. 2011. Energopolitics and the Anthropology of Energy. Anthropology News 52: 5–7.
– Boyer, Dominic. 2019. Energopolitics: wind and power in the Anthropocene. Durham: Duke University Press.
– Mitchell, Timothy. 2011. Carbon democracy: political power in the age of oil. London ; New York: Verso.
– Nye, David E. 1990. Electrifying America: social meanings of a new technology, 1880-1940. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
– Özden-Schilling, Canay. 2021. The Current Economy: Electricity Markets and Techno-Economics. Stanford University Press.