Changes in Energy Regime As Alterations to Social Structure: A Case From Eastern Kentucky

• In Event: 50460 - Section on Comparative-Historical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4: Technologies of Governance

Abstract

As a society we are living through attempts at transitioning away from a fossil fuel dependent energy regime to a more sustainable one. Such a large social transformation is very difficult with vested financial interests intent on keeping that transition slow and incompatible with the realities of the climate crisis. Ultimately, the transition to a new energy regime is a reorganization of social structure with tangible changes in the lives of people. In regions like Appalachian Eastern Kentucky, the economic fallout of coal producers closing mines has put communities on the front lines of challenges associated with a reorganization of an energy regime. This research focuses on the energy regime as a social technology, a systematic management of how communities live their daily lives, what they depend on and the expectations they have for what amounts to a decent life. Post-coal communities’ complex relationship with a more sustainable energy regime serves as an example of the paradox between the need to move away from climate crisis worsening energy and the social difficulties of doing so. I ask how a post-coal region’s history of economic and cultural decline, brought about by corporate interests and government neglect, contributes to community political and social divisions as well as hesitation regarding a newer, more just energy regime. Preliminary findings, based on interviews in three counties, suggest a demand for accountability by the larger community as perceived carelessness on the part of corporations and the government stands in contrast to common people’s endurance of ongoing consequences through no actions of their own. Understanding the mechanisms that constrain communities with energy resource production histories from uniting to fight for a climate crisis mitigating energy regime is vital if larger society as a whole intends to increase the likelihood of a more ecologically sustainable future.

Author

• Nadia Smiecinska, University of California-Davis