Economic history and the political economy of energy transitions: A research overview

Ann-Kristin Bergquist () and Magnus Lindmark ()
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Ann-Kristin Bergquist: Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Postal: Uppsala University, Department of Economic History, P.O. Box 256, SE-751 05 Uppsala, SWEDEN
Magnus Lindmark: Unit of Economic History, Umeå University, Postal: Umeå University, Unit of Economic History, 901 87 Umeå, SWEDEN

No 2023/11, Uppsala Papers in Economic History from Uppsala University, Department of Economic History

Abstract: The climate crisis is at the core of attention to the need for an energy transition at a scale resembling a new ‘low carbon’ industrial revolution. As energy transitions are relatively exceptional and prolonged processes, social scientists have increasingly turned their attention to historical experiences for lessons about how they might unfold in the future. Against this backdrop, the paper examines how the present political economy and barriers for energy transitions compare with past energy transitions. The paper argues that formidable challenges posed by existing energy regimes. Established over centuries and having played a foundational role in the development of modern capitalism since the Industrial Revolution, these 'incumbent' regimes or ‘historical blocks’ are not easily displaced. It urges economic historians to move beyond its traditional focus on how energy via technological change has created new economic growth opportunities and look more into the barriers for energy transition embedded in the architecture of the political economy.

Keywords: Energy transitions; economic history; business history; political economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N50 N70 Q40 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2023-12-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-his and nep-pke
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:uuehwp:2023_011

DOI: 10.33063/upeh.v2i.576

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