Format/Structure

3-4 papers presented by its author(s) in 15 mins. A discussant will offer critical commentary. The session will conclude with an open floor.

Long Abstract

Since the launch of the European Green Deal and the US debates around a Green New Deal in 2019, the green transition agenda has gained decisive momentum. Yet, critical analyses have drawn attention to the colonial dimensions of these transitions. Large-scale extraction of so-called “transition minerals” and establishment of industrial renewable energy facilities in the global South to decarbonise global North economies embody green colonialism. Scholars also highlight the links between green colonialism and the capitalist dynamics underpinning the “decarbonisation consensus”, as well as violent aspects of renewable energy development that reproduce troubling continuities with historical colonialism.

Parallel to this, the adverse effects of the green energy transition have been explored through the notion of “sacrifice”. Sacrifice has been understood as foregone assets such as farmland, as sacrifice zones, and as a political practice. Green energy transition projects often generate profound social and ecological disruptions, which are resisted and contested on the ground, making conflict a central feature of these processes. Accordingly, critical perspectives emphasize not only the harms and new forms of sacrifice associated with green transitions but also resistance, struggle, and agency in shaping them.

New experiences of green sacrifice are emerging across diverse geographies: from rare earth extraction in Madagascar, lithium exploitation in South America’s Lithium Triangle, and cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the struggles of Sámi communities in Northern Europe confronting renewable expansion in their territories. In light of these dynamics, we seek to advance conversations that connect sacrifice zone-making, colonialism in energy transitions.

We invite conceptual, theoretical contributions that critically examine green colonialism and sacrifice, as well as empirically grounded work that bridges these debates with socio-ecological conflicts, grassroots mobilizations, and efforts to contest and reframe dominant narratives of decarbonisation and the green energy transition.

This Panel has 13 pending paper proposals.
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