Presentation short abstract

This research takes a wind farm environmental conflict in Hunan, China as case to show how and why spiritual motivations and historical environmental practices matter in environmental conflict struggle and a more just energy transition.

Presentation long abstract

Environmental conflicts in energy transitions have been explained through the lens of unequal power relations, unfair distributions of costs and benefits, livelihood threats, and institutional failures. Cultural dimensions have also been incorporated into political ecology, as illustrated by Joan Martinez-Alier’s framework of “languages of valuation,” which highlights how clashes between incommensurable values. However, based on a wind-farm conflict in Hunan, China, this research shows that spiritual motivations and historically embedded ethical commitments are critical drivers that sustain environmental defenders’ protracted, rather than episodic, resistance, and in pushing various actors to continuously address the socio-environmental impacts of wind farm development. Integrating Max Weber’s historical-sociological insights on spirit and ethics into the analysis, this research attaches attention to “who with who” and “why they must act and continue acting”, complements to political ecology’s explanations of the persistence and mobilizing mechanisms of environmental conflicts. In doing so, it expands political ecology’s cultural and historical orientations and provides a fuller account of why environmental justice struggles emerge, endure, and matter for energy transitions.