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A conceptual analysis of gendered energy care work and epistemic injustice through a case study of Zanzibar’s Solar Mamas

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  • Kavya Michael

    (Chalmers University of Technology)

  • Helene Ahlborg

    (Chalmers University of Technology)

Abstract

Energy and climate transitions bear an inherent risk of replicating historically embedded unjust gendered norms in the current energy regimes. Positioning our work within critical feminist scholarship, our study emphasizes the embedded nature of energy technologies within respective socio-economic, institutional and cultural contexts. We use a combined lens of care and epistemic injustice to examine the case study of Solar Mamas in Barefoot College Zanzibar, highlighting the nuanced interplay of power relations in decentralized energy transitions. This approach helps comprehend and value gendered energy care work as involving skilled labour in everyday life. Our findings illustrate the need for energy transitions research, policy and practice to be deeply informed by lived experiences, diverse practices of care within the energy webs and valuing of multiple voices. We argue that interventions prioritizing care and knowledge in decentralized, locally managed energy provisioning have the potential to disrupt established gender relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kavya Michael & Helene Ahlborg, 2024. "A conceptual analysis of gendered energy care work and epistemic injustice through a case study of Zanzibar’s Solar Mamas," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(8), pages 947-954, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:9:y:2024:i:8:d:10.1038_s41560-024-01539-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01539-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kavya Michael & Manish Kumar Shrivastava & Arunima Hakhu & Kavya Bajaj, 2020. "A two-step approach to integrating gender justice into mitigation policy: examples from India," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 800-814, July.
    2. Bina Agarwal, 1997. "Environmental Action, Gender Equity and Women's Participation," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 28(1), pages 1-44, January.
    3. Christopher Groves & Fiona Shirani & Nick Pidgeon & Catherine Cherry & Gareth Thomas & Erin Roberts & Karen Henwood, 2021. "A Missing Link? Capabilities, the Ethics of Care and the Relational Context of Energy Justice," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 249-269, April.
    4. Devon Johnson & Lauren E. Parker & Tapan B. Pathak & Laura Crothers & Steven M. Ostoja, 2023. "Technical Assistance Providers Identify Climate Change Adaptation Practices and Barriers to Adoption among California Agricultural Producers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-13, March.
    5. Nicholas Bainton & Deanna Kemp & Eleonore Lèbre & John R. Owen & Greg Marston, 2021. "The energy‐extractives nexus and the just transition," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 624-634, July.
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