Assemblages and diffusion in transitions: a case of electric vehicle users

This paper develops a new conceptualization of the diffusion of innovation in transitions. Current transitions literature tends to emphasize the rigidity of socio-technical systems and regimes. We therefore draw on “assemblage thinking”, particularly as it has been developed in human geography, to develop insights in diffusion during transitions. This perspective draws our attention to the instabilities and agency potential in the world. It helps conceptualize the political and geographical dimensions of transitions. We illustrate our perspective with a case study in the field of automobility, often characterized as a highly stable field, but currently changing with the ascent of the electric vehicle. We explore the agency potential of a group of actors not normally associated with a large role in global transition processes, the users of electric vehicles.