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Journal ArticleDOI

A global perspective on domestic energy deprivation: Overcoming the energy poverty-fuel poverty binary

01 Nov 2015-Energy research and social science (Elsevier BV)-Vol. 10, pp 31-40
TL;DR: In this paper, an integrated conceptual framework for the research and amelioration of energy deprivation in the home is proposed, based on the premise that all forms of energy and fuel poverty are underpinned by a common condition: the inability to attain a socially and materially necessitated level of domestic energy services.
Abstract: This paper offers an integrated conceptual framework for the research and amelioration of energy deprivation in the home. It starts from the premise that all forms of energy and fuel poverty – in developed and developing countries alike – are underpinned by a common condition: the inability to attain a socially and materially necessitated level of domestic energy services. We consider the functionings provided by energy demand in the residential domain in order to advance two claims: first, that domestic energy deprivation in its different guises and forms is fundamentally tied to the ineffective operation of the socio-technical pathways that allow for the fulfilment of household energy needs, and as such is best analyzed by understanding the constitution of different energy services (heating, lighting, etc.) in the home. Second, we emphasize the ability of vulnerability thinking to encapsulate the driving forces of domestic energy deprivation via a comprehensive analytical matrix. The paper identifies the main components and implications of energy service and vulnerability approaches as they relate to domestic energy deprivation across the world.
Citations
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01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: Shove as discussed by the authors investigated the evolution of these changes, as well as the social meaning of the practices themselves, concluding that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces, and that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption.
Abstract: Over the past few generations, expectations of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have altered radically, but these dramatic changes have largely gone unnoticed. This intriguing book brings together the sociology of consumption and technology to investigate the evolution of these changes, as well the social meaning of the practices themselves. Homes, offices, domestic appliances and clothes play a crucial role in our lives, but not many of us question exactly how and why we perform so many daily rituals associated with them. Showers, heating, air-conditioning and clothes washing are simply accepted as part of our normal, everyday lives, but clearly this was not always the case. When did the daily shower become de rigueur? What effect has air conditioning had on the siesta at one time an integral part of Mediterranean life and culture? This book interrogates the meaning and supposed normality of these practices and draws disturbing conclusions. There is clear evidence supporting the view that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces. Shove maintains that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption. This shrewd and engrossing analysis shows just how far the social meanings and practices of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have eluded us.

1,198 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conceptualise energy use from a capabilities perspective, informed by the work of Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and others following them, and suggest a corresponding definition of energy poverty, as understood in the capabilities space.

430 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Focussed on the European Union specifically, this paper critically assesses the available statistical options for monitoring energy poverty, whilst also presenting options for improving existing data.
Abstract: Energy poverty - which has also been recognised via terms such as 'fuel poverty' and 'energy vulnerability' - occurs when a household experiences inadequate levels of energy services in the home. Measuring energy poverty is challenging, as it is a culturally sensitive and private condition, which is temporally and spatially dynamic. This is compounded by the limited availability of appropriate data and indicators, and lack of consensus on how energy poverty should be conceptualised and measured. Statistical indicators of energy poverty are an important and necessary part of the research and policy landscape. They carry great political weight, and are often used to guide the targeting of energy poverty measures - due to their perceived objectivity - with important consequences for both the indoor and built environment of housing. Focussing on the European Union specifically, this paper critically assesses the available statistical options for monitoring energy poverty, whilst also presenting options for improving existing data. This is examined through the lens of vulnerability thinking, by considering the ways in which policies and institutions, the built fabric and everyday practices shape energy use, alongside the manner in which energy poor households experience and address the issue on a day-to-day basis.

275 citations


Cites background from "A global perspective on domestic en..."

  • ...Energy poverty occurs when a household experiences inadequate levels of essential energy services in the home, such as heating, cooling, lighting and use of appliances.(1) There is a broad consensus that energy poverty in Europe is predicated upon high energy prices, low household incomes, inefficient buildings and appliances,(2,3) and specific household energy needs and practices,(4) perhaps relating to chronic illness(5) or family characteristics....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the concept of spatial justice and inequality to understandings of energy poverty and vulnerability, by applying an explicitly spatial lens to conceptualize energy poverty as a form of injustice, it contributes to debates in the domain of energy justice.

245 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
18 Nov 2016
TL;DR: Transport poverty is an issue that has never fully captured the interests of the transport engineering profession in either the "global north" or "global south" and yet it is a problem that adversely affects the daily lives of millions of people across the globe.
Abstract: Transport poverty is an issue that has never fully captured the interests of the transport engineering profession in either the ‘global north’ or ‘global south’ and yet it is a problem that adversely affects the daily lives of millions of people across the globe. What precisely constitutes transport poverty is not adequately articulated within academic, policy or infrastructure design literature. This paper aims to demonstrate how the different ways that academic studies and policy programmes have defined and recorded the problem of transport poverty is directly related to the ways in which it has been subsequently addressed in practice. The overall impression is one of inadequacy, fragmentation, inconsistency and tokenistic treatment of an issue that potentially affects anywhere between 10 to 90% of all households, depending on which definition is used and which country is being considered. This suggests that it is a far greater problem than the transport profession has previously been prepared to recogn...

213 citations

References
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Book
Amartya Sen1
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an approach to justice that is based on the Demands of Justice, Reason and Objectivity, Human Rights and Global Imperatives, and the Materials of Justice.
Abstract: * Preface * Acknowledgements * Introduction: An Approach to Justice Part I: The Demands of Justice * Reason and Objectivity * Rawls and Beyond * Institutions and Persons * Voice and Social Choice * Impartiality and Objectivity * Closed and Open Impartiality Part II: Forms of Reasoning * Position, Relevance and Illusion * Rationality and Other People * Plurality of Impartial Reasons * Realizations, Consequences and Agency Part III: The Materials of Justice * Lives, Freedoms and Capabilities * Capabilities and Resources * Happiness, Well-being and Capabilities * Equality and Liberty Part IV: Public Reasoning and Democracy * Democracy as Public Reason * The Practice of Democracy * Human Rights and Global Imperatives * Justice and the World * Notes * Name Index * Subject Index

3,834 citations

Book ChapterDOI
05 Jul 2017

2,721 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The capability approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well-being and social arrangements, the design of policies, and proposals about social change in society.
Abstract: This paper aims to present a theoretical survey of the capability approach in an interdisciplinary and accessible way. It focuses on the main conceptual and theoretical aspects of the capability approach, as developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, and others. The capability approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well‐being and social arrangements, the design of policies, and proposals about social change in society. Its main characteristics are its highly interdisciplinary character, and the focus on the plural or multidimensional aspects of well‐being. The approach highlights the difference between means and ends, and between substantive freedoms (capabilities) and outcomes (achieved functionings).

2,221 citations


"A global perspective on domestic en..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Nevertheless, the suggestion that energy consumers throughout the world require service standards that would allow them to have ‘effective opportunities to undertake the actions and activities that they want to engage in, and be whom they want to be’ [131] provides a starting point for moving beyond some of the conceptual quandaries at the access–affordability nexus, as described above....

    [...]

  • ...While studies of consumption and sustainability have often explored how particular patterns of energy use are normalized via social practices and everyday routines [130,131], there has been little work on the levels of domestic energy services that households require for the full participation in society within different geographical and cultural settings....

    [...]

01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: Shove as discussed by the authors investigated the evolution of these changes, as well as the social meaning of the practices themselves, concluding that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces, and that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption.
Abstract: Over the past few generations, expectations of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have altered radically, but these dramatic changes have largely gone unnoticed. This intriguing book brings together the sociology of consumption and technology to investigate the evolution of these changes, as well the social meaning of the practices themselves. Homes, offices, domestic appliances and clothes play a crucial role in our lives, but not many of us question exactly how and why we perform so many daily rituals associated with them. Showers, heating, air-conditioning and clothes washing are simply accepted as part of our normal, everyday lives, but clearly this was not always the case. When did the daily shower become de rigueur? What effect has air conditioning had on the siesta at one time an integral part of Mediterranean life and culture? This book interrogates the meaning and supposed normality of these practices and draws disturbing conclusions. There is clear evidence supporting the view that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces. Shove maintains that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption. This shrewd and engrossing analysis shows just how far the social meanings and practices of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have eluded us.

1,198 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The article as discussed by the authors proposes a variety of methodological and topical areas, along with 75 research questions, that could deepen and broaden energy research, connected in part to all of the articles in this special (inaugural) issue of Energy Research & Social Science.
Abstract: Social science related disciplines, methods, concepts, and topics remain underutilized, and perhaps underappreciated, in contemporary energy studies research. To make this case, the article offers both quantitative and qualitative data. It begins with the quantitative part, providing a content analysis of 4444 research articles involving 9549 authors and 90,079 references (from a smaller subsample) published in three leading energy journals from 1999 to 2013. Within this vast sample, only 19.6 percent of authors reported training in any social science discipline, and less than 0.3 percent of authors reported disciplinary affiliations in areas such as history, psychology, anthropology, and communication studies. Only 12.6 percent of articles utilized qualitative methods and less than 5 percent of citations were to social science and humanities journals. The article then shifts to the qualitative part, where it proposes a variety of methodological and topical areas, along with 75 research questions, that could deepen and broaden energy research, connected in part to all of the articles in this special (inaugural) issue of Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS). Readers from all disciplines are encouraged to read it—especially the parts dealing with areas and concepts outside of their own areas of expertise.

1,066 citations


"A global perspective on domestic en..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Addressing the technological and economic aspects of energy poverty is otherwise a key component of the wider relationship between energy and development [6], in terms of both governance aspects and everyday life [5,7,8]....

    [...]