Oxford Handbook of Energy and Society

The Oxford Handbook of Energy and Society presents an overview of this expanding area that has evolved dramatically over the past decade, away from one largely dominated by structural, political economic treatments on the one hand, and social-psychological studies of individual-level attitudes and behaviors on the other, toward a far more conceptually and methodologically rich and exciting field that brings in, for example, social practices, system complexity, risk theory, social studies of science, and social movements theories. This volume seeks to capture the variety of scales and methods, and range of both conceptual and empirical analyses that define the field, while drawing particular attention to indigenous peoples, poverty, political power, communities and cities. Organized into seven sections, chapters cover social theory and energy-society relations, political-economic perspectives, consumption dynamics, energy equity and energy poverty, energy and publics, energy and governance, as well as emerging trends.

List of contents

• Part I. Energy and Society: Key Contemporary Dynamics and Theoretical Contributions


• 1. A Time of Change, a Time for Change: Energy-Society Relations in the 21st Century


• Debra J. Davidson and Matthias Gross


• 2. Energy, Climate Change, and Global Governance: The 2015 Paris Agreement in Perspective


• John Vogler


• 3.Energy Consumption as Part of Social Practices: The Alternative Approach of Practice Theory


• Ana Horta


• 4. Analyzing the Socio-Technical Transformation of Energy Systems: The Concept of 'Sustainability Transitions'


• Harald Rohracher


• Part II. Structural/Political-Economic Perspectives: The Persistent Material and Geopolitical Relevance of Fossil Fuels


• 5. National Energy Signatures: Energetics, Money, and the Structure of the Global System


• Jalel Sager


• 6. Energy Markets and Trading


• David Mares


• 7. Raw Materialism and Socioeconomic Change in the Coal Industry


• Paul S. Ciccantell and Paul K. Gellert


• 8. The International Political Economy of Eastern European Energy Security: Russia, Ukraine, and the EU


• Jack D. Sharples


• Part III. Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Consumption Dynamics


• 9. Energy Consumption Trends Across the Globe


• Richard York


• 10. Shifts in Energy Consumption Driven by Urbanization


• Perry Sadorsky


• 11. Theorizing the Behavioral Dimension of Energy Consumption: Energy Efficiency and the Value-Action Gap


• Marilyn A. Brown and Benjamin K. Sovacool


• 12. Energy Cultures as Sociomaterial Orders of Energy


• Thomas Pfister and Martin Schweighofer


• 13. The Limits of Household Change: Structural Influences over Individual Consumption


• Janet A. Lorenzen


• Part IV. Is Energy a Human Right? Perspectives on Energy Equity, and Energy Poverty


• 14. Decreasing Supplies, Increasing Risks in Oil Development


• Christine Shearer


• 15. Industrializing Countries as the New Energy Consumers


• Paulo Manduca, Mauro Berni, Iure Paiva, and José Alexandre Hage


• 16. Energy Poverty, Energy Equity in a World of High Demand and Low Supply


• Karl-Michael Brunner, Sylvia Mandl, and Harriet Thomson


• 17. Energy Poverty and Climate Change: Elements to Debate


• Marcio Giannini Pereira, Neilton Fidelis da Silva, and Marcos A.V. Freitas


• Part V. Energy and Publics


• 18. Local Responses to Renewable Energy Development


• Ana Delicado


• 19. User Innovation and Peer Assistance in Small-Scale Renewable Energy Technologies


• Sampsa Hyysalo and Jouni Juntunen


• 20. The Role of Media Influence in Shaping Public Energy Dialogues


• Aleksandra Wagner


• Part VI. Energy (Re)takes Center-Stage in Politics and Motivates Shifts in Governance


• 21. Social Movements and Energy


• Ion Bogdan Vasi



About the author

Debra J. Davidson is Professor of Environmental Sociology in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her primary areas of teaching and research include the social dimensions of energy food systems, with special interest in the impacts on, and the observed and potential institutional transformation in, energy and food systems due to climate change. She is co-author of Challenging Legitimacy at the Precipice of Energy Calamity, with Mike Gismondi (2011), and co-editor of Consuming Sustainability: Critical Perspectives on Socio-ecological Change, with Kirstin Hatt (2005).

Matthias Gross is Professor of Environmental Sociology at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ in Leipzig, Germany, and by joint appointment, the University of Jena, Germany. His recent research focuses on the changing role of civil society, alternative energy systems, the sociology of engineering, real world experiments, ecological design, renewable energy systems, risk and ignorance, and theories of the knowledge society. He is a founding editor of the journal Nature + Culture. Book publications in English include Ignorance and Surprise: Science, Society, and Ecological Design (2010), Renewable Energies (2014, with Rüdiger Mautz), the Routledge International Handbook of Ignorance Studies (edited with Linsey McGoey, 2015), and Green European: Environmental Behaviour and Attitudes in Europe in a Historical and Cross-Cultural Comparative Perspective (2017, co-editor with Audrone Telesiene).

Report

The last section discusses emerging trends and opportunities in the energy-society relationship. The authors highlight the latest sociological research and provide their analyses on a developing and growing issue that will continue to impact society. This comprehensive volume showcases the trends, challenges, and opportunities of energy issues and their influence on society. T. Chan, MIT Libraries, Choice

Product details

• Authors: Dr. Debra J. (Professor Davidson
• Assisted by: Debra J. Davidson (Editor), Matthias Gross (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 06.09.2018
• EAN: 9780190633851
• ISBN: 978-0-19-063385-1
• No. of pages: 600
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Sociology, NATURE / Ecology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Disasters & Disaster Relief, Social impact of environmental issues, Social impact of disasters, Social impact of disasters / accidents (natural or man-made)