Huang, P. orcid.org/0000-0002-7573-715X, Westman, L. orcid.org/0000-0003-4599-4996 and Castán Broto, V. (2021) A culture-led approach to understanding energy transitions in China: The correlative epistemology. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46 (4). pp. 900-916. ISSN 0020-2754
Abstract
Transformations of the energy system are unfolding in China at an unprecedented scale and pace. The dynamics of China's energy transitions impact global trends of energy decarbonisation. Transition theories within the Anglophone academic tradition have been used to examine this process, but they tend to misrepresent the social, cultural, and political structures that shape energy transitions in China. This paper proposes a move from an analysis of energy transitions “with Chinese characteristics” to alternative thinking on energy transitions truly rooted in Chinese epistemological and philosophical constructs. The correlative epistemology refers to a Chinese tradition of social studies that describes the cosmos as a structured order of relations (guanxi). This tradition sees guanxi as the fundamental constituent of Chinese society. Such a relational focus enables a culture-led reading of China's energy transitions, thus responding to calls for transition theories “from elsewhere.” In particular, correlative interpretations of innovation and transition processes in China frame energy transitions within broader societal transformations, define the operation of transition governance, and reveal that pre-existing guanxi networks shape the activities of actors in transition processes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | China; correlative epistemology; energy transitions; guanxi; transition theory |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EUROPEAN COMMISSION - HORIZON 2020 804051 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 May 2021 10:15 |
Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2022 10:55 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/tran.12453 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:174595 |