Presentation short abstract

Just Transition frameworks exclude most workers. We explore precarity as a lens spanning formal-informal work, affecting all workers variably. UK-India analysis reveals Northern transitions depend on Southern injustice, requiring relational justice addressing global class dynamics.

Presentation long abstract

The notion of Just Transition (JT) is critiqued for its limited focus on formal, unionised workers, neglecting the vast and diverse forms of precarious labour that are integral to global energy systems. We argue that contemporary energy transitions inherit and reconstitute patterns of precarity rooted in colonial fossil capitalism. Drawing on Bernstein's concept of 'classes of labour' and Hart's relational comparison framework, we provide an analysis of the interconnected trajectories of the UK and India. We introduce three concepts – immanent, inherited and reconstituted precarity – to show how justice in global North transitions is relationally dependent on injustice in the global South, while revealing the complex class relations and fragmentation of labour operating within and between these geographies. The paper concludes by arguing for a shift from national employment management to a framework of relational justice that addresses global class relations.