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The end of the experiment? The energy crisis, neoliberal energy, and the limits to a socio-ecological fix

Fearn, Gareth; (2023) The end of the experiment? The energy crisis, neoliberal energy, and the limits to a socio-ecological fix. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space 10.1177/25148486231172844. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

The present energy crisis is one which is rooted in the contradictions of the neoliberalisation of energy. The UK is one of the pioneers of energy neoliberalisation and has been experimenting with different market arrangements since the 1980s, yet has found itself particularly exposed to the impacts of a global energy price shock. Through an analysis of policy documents, regulatory reports and historical energy policy literature, I identify how privatisation, regulatory experiments and market engineering under a neoliberal policy paradigm helped to create the conditions for the present crisis. Drawing on Hall's conception of policy paradigms, I argue that the neoliberal policy paradigm, for energy, is locked in a cycle of interventions at the second order to manage the contradictions of the third order priority of securing privatised energy markets and maintain legitimacy for the neoliberal energy system. The current energy crisis has led to the government making increasingly extreme second order interventions to stabilise the energy system to secure the interests of electricity capital and fossil capital. The present crisis, however, exposes the limits to a socio-ecological fix (for people, and for capital) within neoliberal hegemony.

Type: Article
Title: The end of the experiment? The energy crisis, neoliberal energy, and the limits to a socio-ecological fix
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/25148486231172844
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486231172844
Language: English
Additional information: © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Neoliberalism, energy, energy crisis, electricity capital
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Planning
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171005
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