Just an energy transition? A gendered analysis of energy transition in Northern Cape, South Africa

Abstract

The world faces a climate crisis due to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels which has supported industrialisation and capitalist expansion. One of the solutions to the climate crisis is to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning from a fossil fuel-based energy system to one based on renewable sources, such as solar or wind energy. The just energy transition promises to address unemployment and poverty while reducing the carbon intensive nature of the energy system. However, this energy transition is complex and holds uncertainty and risk for many people, particularly communities and workers who depend on the coal value chain. This article adopts a feminist political economy lens to explore the relationship between the development of renewable energy and gendered labour. This approach highlights the importance of the economy, the household and the state in the process of social reproduction. By analysing the impact of the development of solar power plants on the communities and workers in three towns in the Northern Cape, South Africa, and focusing on the three components of social reproduction, I find that the energy transition in its current form will not deliver justice for the poor and working classes or promote gender equality.