Research Seminar in Sociology of Law with Eric Brandstedt & Georgia de Leeuw

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“And We Get Nothing in Return”

Reciprocity in the Rural/Urban Divide in the Swedish Green Transition

An ethically defensible transition to a sustainable society depends on public support for transformative changes. However, green energy infrastructure has been critiqued and resisted for the impact they have on various vulnerable groups. Research and policy have started to integrate social sustainability and justice dimensions into transition efforts. The initially narrow focus on workers in fossil industries has been widened to include other adversely affected groups and individuals, such as spatially impacted communities. To further broaden this perspective, the countryside is an interesting site of inquiry, since it is commonly targeted for green energy production. We therefore study countryside sentiments about the green transition by examining a rural municipality in mid-Sweden, where rural residents see plans for an expansion of wind and solar energy as incompatible with countryside values. We show that rural residents display a deep-rooted sense of exclusion relative to centralised decision-making. Structural urban-rural power dynamics and grievances about disproportionate allocations of harms and benefits are perceived as aggravated by green investments. Here, these investments and the centralised decision-making that they are a result of are regarded as dismissive of contributions generated in the countryside, such as food production in times of crisis. This article speaks to the literature on local governance and transition justice by examining how the energy transition is compatible with rural efforts to build a vibrant countryside. We contribute a novel reading of the justice dimensions in rural-urban power imbalances in the green transition as a matter of reciprocity, or lack thereof.

Eric Brandstedt is a senior lecturer in Human Rights Studies and an associate professor in practical philosophy. His research focuses on climate justice, intergenerational justice, human rights and political philosophy.

Georgia de Leeuw holds a PhD in Political Science, with a dissertation focusing on iron ore extraction and the transition to hydrogen-based steel in Northern Sweden/Sápmi. She is now a postdoctoral researcher in the project “A Just Transition to a Sustainable Municipality” (JUSUMU) working with Eric Brandstedt. The project focuses on grievances in transition designs at the local level and on how perceived injustices can be addressed. Grievances pertain to transportation, energy infrastructure, agriculture, wetlands, and uranium mining.