Abstract
This paper aims to extend the energy justice framework by using the capability approach to understand factors affecting community acceptance of energy technologies. The capability approach is a normative framework for assessing people's well-being and devising interventions for social justice. Whilst recognising that opposition to energy technologies is fundamentally a problem of distributive, recognition and procedural injustices, the paper operationalises the capability approach to unveil what these justice tenets mean to indigenous people living in three communities neighbouring wind installations located in Southern Mexico. Findings conclude that building a bottom-up approach to understand complex conceptions of energy justice within a community can lead to an improved awareness of justice implications relevant to community acceptance of energy technologies. In the Mexican case, these factors relate to inclusive community engagement that pays particular attention to valued ways of being and doing of the local population, such as equal access to employment, higher education and professional training, diversified sources of income, and recognition of the local indigenous everyday life and communal identity. The results also highlight a nested structure of justice concerns, with the three tenets being embedded into one another and presenting different levels of visibility.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 101711 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Energy Research and Social Science |
Volume | 70 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2020 |
Funding
The lead author received a scholarship from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología México, CONACYT (CVU No. 469917). We are also grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their useful and constructive comments, the journal’s editing team, and for all the study participants that made this research possible, particularly Tanya Antonio Escobar, Elizabeth Carrasco Morales, William Hernández Ramírez, Lizbeth Ignacio Hernández, Gisel Gutiérrez Felipe, Lirio Jiménez López, Enoc López Toledo, Norma Rueda Rasgado, Katya Ruiz Cruz, Jade Martínez Sánchez, Jesús Marínez Arreguín y Arely Romo López.
Keywords
- Capability approach
- Energy justice
- Indigenous communities
- Mexico
- Renewable energy
- Social acceptance