IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v52y2020i6p1051-1071.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy landscapes in Mozambique: The role of the extractive industries in a post-conflict environment

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua Kirshner

    (Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, UK)

  • Vanesa Castán Broto

    (Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, UK)

  • Idalina Baptista

    (Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, UK)

Abstract

Rather than an integrated project of modernity, the provision of energy in Mozambique is characterized by social and territorial fragmentation. Our concern in this article is with spatial-political projects that enlist energy-related infrastructure as a means of furthering national unity across the national territory. We argue that the Mozambican state’s efforts to knit together its territory through energy provision have heightened divisions, such as between urban and rural areas, subnational regions and socioeconomic groups. We draw on geographical political economy and landscape research to consider the space and territoriality of Mozambique’s energy systems. We use the lens of energy landscapes to examine the spatialities and historical legacies of energy-related infrastructural state projects, and how such spatialities and legacies shape new energy projects. These landscapes are material expressions of the social, political and institutional relations bound up in energy extraction, distribution and consumption. They reflect historical legacies, revealing traces of successive developments. While previous studies have focused on local energy landscapes in a variety of settings, our aim is to examine how such landscapes connect with wider nation-building projects and the operation of political economies. To elucidate these points, we examine two energy-related projects and their landscapes in Mozambique: Cahora Bassa hydropower dam and the Moatize coal extraction zone. The article concludes by reflecting on the ways in which energy landscapes can be used to interrogate the dynamics of power inherent in energy systems, the evolving links between state power and electric power, and the interests being served by these developments.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Kirshner & Vanesa Castán Broto & Idalina Baptista, 2020. "Energy landscapes in Mozambique: The role of the extractive industries in a post-conflict environment," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(6), pages 1051-1071, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:6:p:1051-1071
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X19866212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X19866212
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X19866212?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco, 2014. "Growth, capital accumulation and economic porosity in Mozambique: social losses, private gains," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(sup1), pages 26-48, October.
    2. Mazen Labban, 2012. "Preempting Possibility: Critical Assessment of the IEA's World Energy Outlook 2010," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 375-393, January.
    3. Ahlborg, Helene & Hammar, Linus, 2014. "Drivers and barriers to rural electrification in Tanzania and Mozambique – Grid-extension, off-grid, and renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 117-124.
    4. Cuvilas, C.A. & Jirjis, R. & Lucas, C., 2010. "Energy situation in Mozambique: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(7), pages 2139-2146, September.
    5. World Bank, 2015. "Mozambique Energy Sector Policy Note," World Bank Publications - Reports 24441, The World Bank Group.
    6. Helena Pérez Niño & Philippe Le Billon, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and Angola," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Le Billon, Philippe & Pérez Niño, Helena, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and Angola," WIDER Working Paper Series 102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Jonathan Rutherford & Olivier Coutard, 2014. "Urban Energy Transitions: Places, Processes and Politics of Socio-technical Change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(7), pages 1353-1377, May.
    9. Broto, Vanesa Castán, 2017. "Energy landscapes and urban trajectories towards sustainability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 755-764.
    10. Tschakert, Petra, 2016. "Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 123-132.
    11. Bridge, Gavin & Bouzarovski, Stefan & Bradshaw, Michael & Eyre, Nick, 2013. "Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 331-340.
    12. Sokona, Youba & Mulugetta, Yacob & Gujba, Haruna, 2012. "Widening energy access in Africa: Towards energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 3-10.
    13. Rasmussen, Mattias Borg & Lund, Christian, 2018. "Reconfiguring Frontier Spaces: The territorialization of resource control," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 388-399.
    14. Jochen Monstadt & Sophie Schramm, 2017. "Toward The Networked City? Translating Technological ideals and Planning Models in Water and Sanitation Systems in Dar es Salaam," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 104-125, January.
    15. Sebitosi, A.B. & da Graa, A., 2009. "Cahora Bassa and Tete Province (Mozambique): A great potential for an industrial hub in Southern Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 2027-2032, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marcus Power & Joshua Kirshner, 2019. "Powering the state: The political geographies of electrification in Mozambique," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(3), pages 498-518, May.
    2. Broto, Vanesa Castán, 2017. "Energy landscapes and urban trajectories towards sustainability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 755-764.
    3. Castán Broto, Vanesa & Baptista, Idalina & Kirshner, Joshua & Smith, Shaun & Neves Alves, Susana, 2018. "Energy justice and sustainability transitions in Mozambique," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 645-655.
    4. Baptista, Idalina & Plananska, Jana, 2017. "The landscape of energy initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa: Going for systemic change or reinforcing the status quo?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-8.
    5. Jonathan Silver & Simon Marvin, 2017. "Powering sub-Saharan Africa’s urban revolution: An energy transitions approach," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(4), pages 847-861, March.
    6. Mahumane, Gilberto & Mulder, Peter, 2015. "Mozambique Energy Outlook, 2015-2030. Data, scenarios and policy implications," MPRA Paper 65968, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Gavin Bridge & Ludger Gailing, 2020. "New energy spaces: Towards a geographical political economy of energy transition," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(6), pages 1037-1050, September.
    8. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Nguyen, Thanh-Tung & Hoang, Viet-Ngu & Wilson, Clevo & Managi, Shunsuke, 2019. "Energy transition, poverty and inequality in Vietnam," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 536-548.
    9. Laurence Rocher, 2017. "Governing metropolitan climate-energy transition: A study of Lyon’s strategic planning," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(5), pages 1092-1107, April.
    10. Criqui, Laure & Zérah, Marie-Hélène, 2015. "Lost in transition? Comparing strategies of electricity companies in Delhi," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 179-188.
    11. Boräng, Frida & Jagers, Sverker C. & Povitkina, Marina, 2016. "Political determinants of electricity provision in small island developing states," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 725-734.
    12. Griet Juwet & Michael Ryckewaert, 2018. "Energy Transition in the Nebular City: Connecting Transition Thinking, Metabolism Studies, and Urban Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Ahlborg, Helene & Boräng, Frida & Jagers, Sverker C. & Söderholm, Patrik, 2015. "Provision of electricity to African households: The importance of democracy and institutional quality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 125-135.
    14. Verdeil, Éric & Arik, Elvan & Bolzon, Hugo & Markoum, Jimmy, 2015. "Governing the transition to natural gas in Mediteranean Metropolis: The case of Cairo, Istanbul and Sfax (Tunisia)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 235-245.
    15. Committee for Development Policy Secretariat, 2018. "Lessons Learned in Developing Productive Capacity: Fourteen Case Studies," CDP Background Papers 037, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    16. Victor Kaiyuan Lin & Jenn‐Hwan Wang, 2023. "The Green Energy Transition and Peripheral City Development in China: Towards a Local Eco‐developmental State," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(3), pages 514-542, May.
    17. Nochta, Timea & Skelcher, Chris, 2020. "Network governance in low-carbon energy transitions in European cities: A comparative analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    18. Stephanie Pincetl & Mikhail Chester & David Eisenman, 2016. "Urban Heat Stress Vulnerability in the U.S. Southwest: The Role of Sociotechnical Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-13, August.
    19. David Carment & Yiagadeesen Samy, 2019. "Aid targeting to fragile and conflict-affected states and implications for aid effectiveness," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-8, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Dagnachew, Anteneh G. & Lucas, Paul L. & Hof, Andries F. & Gernaat, David E.H.J. & de Boer, Harmen-Sytze & van Vuuren, Detlef P., 2017. "The role of decentralized systems in providing universal electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa – A model-based approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 184-195.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:6:p:1051-1071. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.