Course Information

Instructor: Dr. Timur Ergen (te@mpifg.de)
Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (MPIfG)
University: Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Semester: Winter 2021/2022
Schedule: Bi-weekly, Fridays at 10:00
Location: Room S.13.2

Sustainable energy sources form the core of any credible strategy for limiting anthropogenic climate change. The rapid and targeted transformation of energy supply structures is not primarily a technical problem. How – and whether – it happens depends on political, social, and economic dynamics.

The seminar introduces social science research literature on the transformation of energy supply structures while simultaneously providing access to central methods and theoretical perspectives from social science research on social change. Key seminar topics include the logic of large technical systems, the influence of economic interests, possibilities and limits of state direction, the role of social movements, and the interplay between cultural and technological change.

Course Materials
  • Complete Syllabus — Full course syllabus with detailed information and requirements

Assessment

Students can earn a non-graded credit. For sociology students: 6 LP; for students from other fields: 3 LP (2 LP for philosophy students). Credit requires: (1) Regular and active seminar participation and reading of the required literature. (2) Summary and introduction of a thematic block. (3) Preparation of a term paper.

Term Paper Requirements:

  • 6 LP: 6000–8000 words
  • 3 LP: 3000–4000 words
  • Submission deadline: March 31, 2021
  • Must be uploaded to Moodle in PDF format

Philosophy students write a memorandum on a self-selected session instead of a term paper.

Session 1: Einführung

October 29, 2021

Required Readings:

  • Karl-Werner Brand & Fritz Reusswig, 2020. Umwelt. S. 865–899 in: Hans Joas & Steffen Mau (Hg.), Lehrbuch der Soziologie. Frankfurt am Main: Campus.
  • Piotr Sztompka, 1993. The Sociology of Social Change. Oxford: Blackwell, 24–35.

Session 2: Technik & Gesellschaft

November 5, 2021

Required Readings:

  • Werner Rammert & Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer, 2020. Technik und Gesellschaft. S. 659–689 in: Hans Joas & Steffen Mau (Hg.), Lehrbuch der Soziologie. Frankfurt am Main: Campus.
  • Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2009. Rejecting Renewables: The Socio-technical Impediments to Renewable Electricity in the United States. Energy Policy 37: S. 4500–4513.

Session 3: Wirtschafts- & Unternehmensinteressen

November 19, 2021

Required Readings:

  • Leah C. Stokes, 2020. Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, S. 5–22 & 164–193.
  • David J. Hess, 2014. Sustainability Transitions: A Political Coalition Perspective. Research Policy 43: S. 278–283.

Session 4: Staat

December 3, 2021

Required Readings:

  • Timothy Mitchell, 2009. Carbon Democracy. Economy and Society 38: S. 399–432.
  • Jonas Meckling & Jonas Nahm, 2021. Strategic State Capacity: How States Counter Opposition to Climate Policy. Comparative Political Studies (online first).

Additional Session: Reference management software

Session 5: Zivilgesellschaft & soziale Bewegungen

December 17, 2021

Required Readings:

  • David J. Hess, 2007. Alternative Pathways in Science and Industry. Activism, Innovation, and the Environment in an Era of Globalization. Cambridge: MIT Press, S. 69–84 & 136–144.
  • Robert J. Brulle, 2014. Institutionalizing Delay: Foundation Funding and the Creation of U.S. Climate Change Counter-movement Organizations. Climatic Change 122: S. 681–694.

Session 6: Wissen & Narrative

January 14, 2022

Required Readings:

  • Sheila Jasanoff & Sang-Hyun Kim, 2009. Containing the Atom: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Nuclear Power in the United States and South Korea. Minerva 47: S. 119–146.
  • Riley E. Dunlap & Robert J. Brulle, 2015. Challenging Climate Change: The Denial Countermovement. S. 300–332 in: Riley E. Dunlap & Robert J. Brulle (Hg.), Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Session 7: Transnationale Felder

January 28, 2022

Required Readings:

  • Michaël Aklin & Matto Mildenberger, 2020. Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, Not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change. Global Environmental Politics 20: S. 4–27.
  • Frances C. Moore, 2012. Negotiating Adaptation: Norm Selection and Hybridization in International Climate Negotiations. Global Environmental Politics 12: S. 30–48.

Session 8: Besprechung zu den Hausarbeiten

February 25, 2022

Discussion of term paper topics and requirements.