Abstract

This essay introduces the special issue entitled Ethnographies of energy production in times of transition. First a selection of crucial events concerned with the energy production, trade and consumption that occurred in 2021 and 2022 is presented. This is done with the aim of contextualizing the ethnographic contributions in this issue. Following that, each contribution is summarized, with reference to its main theme, field of study, geography, and scale: the four articles draw on the fields of human geography, critical urban studies, anthropology, and architecture with case studies from Italy, Morocco and Spain, Switzerland and France, as well as Japan. Then, all the contributions are brought together by revealing the commonalities between them, such as the relevance of «materiality» of energy (e.g., grids, power plants, and other infrastructures), and its role in the production of space. This essay unfolds the power and territorial imbalances that are at play by shedding light on the conflicting narratives regarding sustainability, resilience, decarbonisation, and clean/dirty energy. In conclusion, manifold temporalities and multiple rationalities result in the “patchyµ nature of current energy transition processes.