The gender of renewable energy
A spectre is haunting the European energy system – the spectre of the Resource Man. He is transforming that system in its own image – that of “the male dominated industries of engineering, economics and computer science” (Strengers). The Resource Man is able to sustain this image, because in his endeavours to haul the system into the age of digital modernity and the post-fossil future, resource men from across those sectors flock to his aid, by signing up for pilot projects and pioneering the latest technologies. But is the Resource Man running up against the limits of his man’s world? (For a spoiler alert, cue in the OST.)
Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of SLE. The year is starting to run out of time and the semester has but a few weeks to run its course (why does it feel like everything is running around me?). Over the last few months I’ve been indulging in these crossovers between my history of anthropology class and energy studies and I do hope that you’ve enjoyed them and that maybe they sparked some ideas that otherwise would have slumbered in the darker corners of your otherwise brilliant minds. However, as I get ready for the new year, I’d like to open this up to your wishes and desires. Are there topics you’d like me to cover? Are there burning questions you can’t quite resolve? Are you looking for a different kind or format? If you have any ideas, requests or suggestions, please let me know. Hit reply or hit me up at sociallifeofenergy@substack.com.
New here? Curious about the social dimensions of clean energy transitions?
Back to the resource men.
In 2003, Clancy and Roehr reminded us that, our ideologies of gender equality notwithstanding, yes, there are significant differences in how men and women in the Global North relate to energy. Over a decade later though, Tjørring (2016) voiced the industry’s consternation with the exclamation: “we forgot half the population!” Going on 2020, attention to gender is still not a mainstay of (Northern) energy research and policy.
Meanwhile in anthropology
Concerted efforts to include women’s perspectives in the anthropological discipline as well as in the field began in earnest in the 1970s. Initially, efforts focused primarily on getting women heard. Up until that point it was mostly male anthropologists and their male interlocutors painting pretty male-centric pictures of culture(s). Quite soon though, ‘gender’ emerged as a new research agenda to understand how people had made sense of the biological differences between men and women. While early gender research tended to focus on the shared experiences of (the subjugation of) women worldwide, later research was compelled to face instead the diversity of women’s lives and the differences in perspectives and needs across the world. With every new ‘wave’, feminist anthropologists developed new, critical sensitivity to how knowledge was ‘made’: who was asked questions, who got to speak for whom, and whose worldview was being questioned or not.
Divisions of household labour
These questions are also at stake in today’s articles about the relationship between gender and (renewable) energy in northern Europe. In an article hot off the presses, Standal et al (2020) track solar prosumers in the UK and Norway (yes, Norway – nothing can stop solar, not even 18 hour Oslo nights!) in the process of getting their panels: from researching the possibilities, to getting and installing them, to finally, living with them. “Classic” gender differences showed up along the way, such as affinity with “technology” or aesthetic appraisals of the panels, as well as the ‘gendered’ division of the household into maintenance and daily housework. That last division led men to be involved with the installation and the monitoring of the panels, while it was up to women to adapt appliance use to the frivolous nature of the northern sun.
(A little free ad for Norwegian SUNSTYLE – these panels look cool.)
To understand this largely stereotypical division of labour, invoking Mars and Venus will not do though. It is not a ‘direct’ result of masculinity or femininity. Instead, social networks and professional expertise mediate the kind of ‘gendered’ role each of the partners might play in the household. This point is neatly illustrated by the counter-example of two women who were professionally active in the energy sector. In virtue of the connections, knowledge and opportunities it afforded them, it was they, not their male partners, who took a leading role in the acquisition phases (5).
The materiality of gender
In a survey of women’s involvement in solar and wind plants in (northern) Germany, Fraune (2015) makes the same point. She first notes that, in terms of shares in ownership, in the amount invested in the plan, as well as number of leadership positions in the association, women score decidedly lower than men. An explanation of this difference hinges on the material differences between men and women: women have less capital available to them (even less in comparison to their husbands, a gap in part motivated by tax systems). In terms of involvement with decision-making, unpaid volunteering generally follows longer involvement with the sector in question – and (again) it’s mostly men working in the energy sector. (62)
Tjørring’s (2016) article gives us one final example of how our gender roles in the energy sector depend on how we are situated in other domains of life. She tracked families in their process of deciding on home energy (efficiency) renovations. Her point is this: what people do in the house gives them a perspective on what do with the house. “Each family member referred to their practices in the house when arguing for/against the particular type of energy renovations being discussed” (119). Now, what they do in the house is “heavily gendered”. Take Paul and Anne. They were thinking to move to district heating. That move should entail the removal of floor heating in the bathroom. Paul, who rushes out the house at 5am to his job at the bakery, was fine with that. Anne, by contrast, tended to spend half an hour in the bathroom and for her the floor heating was a key component of (anti-meridian) comfort. Gender, daily routine, space and energy intersect. (If you’re wondering: Paul and Anne managed to find a compromise solution.)
Sure, you’re being all gender equal and what not, but what’s that gas stove doing there?! (Evidence gathered by Soroush Karimi on Unsplash)
“Policy recommendations”
It is not immediately clear what such insights mean for those wishing to accelerate the adoption of solar panels or the renovation of homes. However, the authors do note the poverty of existing approaches, which pin their hope entirely on presenting (potential) economic benefits and the power of ‘information’. Enriching these approaches with a little ‘lived reality’ would be great first step.
One immediate implication is that you take into account the differences within a household, instead of treating the household as a unit. At the very least, this could mean identifying and addressing advantages and obstacles for different kinds of uses of home spaces. A more substantial move would be to address the material conditions that prevent women from participating more pro-actively in all these different kinds energy transitions. In a world run by resource men, they are bound to shed new light on things. And new light is good - as any feminist can tell you.
Speaking of feminists, maybe all ye researchers out there want to (re-)read some of them feminist classics (and some colleagues in development studies)? Get inspired? This is clearly one those conclusions that ends with “we need more research”.
That’s all for now folks. If you liked this issue, hit the heart button, it helps me!
Sources
Clancy, Joy, and Ulrike Roehr. 2003. "Gender and energy: is there a northern perspective?" Energy for Sustainable Development. 7: 44-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0973-0826(08)60364-6
Fraune, Cornelia. 2015. "Gender matters: Women, renewable energy, and citizen participation in Germany". Energy Research & Social Science. 7: 55-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.02.005
Standal, Karina, Marta Talevi, and Hege Westskog. 2020. "Engaging men and women in energy production in Norway and the United Kingdom: The significance of social practices and gender relations". Energy Research & Social Science. 60: 101338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101338 (Open Access)
Tjørring, Lise. 2016. "We forgot half of the population! The significance of gender in Danish energy renovation projects". Energy Research & Social Science. 22: 115-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.08.008
PS: If you do not have the appropriate credentials to cross the paywall to these articles, maybe you can check out https://sci-hub.tw (just copy paste in the doi number), or if you are uncomfortable with that, send me a message and I’ll lend you a copy.