Articles | Volume 78, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-78-581-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-78-581-2023
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21 Dec 2023
Standard article |  | 21 Dec 2023

A situated governmentality approach to energy transitions: technologies of power in German and Indian smart grid strategies

Leonie Büttner and Lucas Barning

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Cited articles

Anderson, B., Kearnes, M., McFarlane, C., and Swanton, D.: On assemblages and geography, Dialog. Hum. Geogr., 2, 171–189, 2012. 
Bäckstrand, K. and Lövbrand, E.: The Road to Paris: Contending Climate Governance Discourses in the Post-Copenhagen Era, J. Environ. Policy Plan., 21, 519–532, 2016. 
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Ballo, I. F.: Imagining energy futures: Sociotechnical imaginaries of the future Smart Grid in Norway, Energ. Res. Soc. Sci., 9, 9–20, 2015. 
Becker, S., Moss, T., and Naumann, M.: The Importance of Space: Towards a Socio-Material and Political Geography of Energy Transitions, in: Conceptualizing Germany's Energy Transition, edited by: Gailing, L. and Moss, T., Palgrave Macmillan UK, London, 93–102, https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50593-4_6, 2016. 
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Short summary
This paper develops a situated governmentality approach to the particularities of energy transition projects, focusing on smart grid strategies in Germany and India. By analysing the underlying rationalities and power dynamics driving these energy transition projects, we challenge the dominant perception of smart grids as a universal solution. Our findings emphasize the different contexts in which smart grids are being developed and the various technologies of power at play.