Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
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| Reference Number | ES/N016351/1 | |
| Title | Geo-logics and Geo-politics: The Collective Governance of European Shale Gas Development | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Non-conventional oil and gas production) 50%; Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Other Supporting Data) 50%; |
|
| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Geography and Environmental Studies) 25%; SOCIAL SCIENCES (Law) 25%; SOCIAL SCIENCES (Politics and International Studies) 50%; |
|
| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation) 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Dr K Kama No email address given Geography OUCE University of Oxford |
|
| Award Type | Standard | |
| Funding Source | ESRC | |
| Start Date | 01 October 2016 | |
| End Date | 30 September 2018 | |
| Duration | 24 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £149,196 | |
| Industrial Sectors | ||
| Region | South East | |
| Programme | Training | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Dr K Kama , Geography OUCE, University of Oxford (100.000%) |
| Industrial Collaborator | Project Contact , Durham University (0.000%) Project Contact , Institute for Energy and Transport (IET), Joint Research Centre (JRC), Petten, The Netherlands (0.000%) |
|
| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | ||
| Abstract | This project explores recent shifts in the knowledge and politics of resource development that have been implied by the prospective exploitation of shale gas resources in Europe. The possibility of implementing a US-developed industry in a substantially different geo-economic context represents currently one of the most heated scientific and political controversies in the EU, as debates over the feasibility and desirability of shale gas development have become highly polarised between and within member states. The difficulties of establishing a more balanced dialogue and decision-making are compounded by the lack of reliable scientific knowledge of potential resources, understanding of environmental impacts and a coordinated transnational policy. In the situation of prevailing scientific uncertainty and growing public opposition, it has become acutely clear that the industry's prospects cannot solely be decided by geoscientific expertise or industry-government negotiations. This has resulted in a particular crisis of governance, where it is no longer clear whose knowledge counts and who gets to decide over the industry's future, especially since the EU has currently no mandate to regulate the industry in its member states.This project analyses the changing forms and networks of expert knowledge and political authority that inform shale gas controversies, focusing particularly on conflicting assessments of recoverable resources and technological readiness. It examines whether these changes can be explained by diverse and conflicting social definitions of the geological resource, or what is conceptualised here as contending 'geo-logics', drawing upon relational accounts of natural resources in geography and cognate disciplines. Further, the project explores the potential of geoscientific controversies to give rise to non-elite forms of knowledge production and political agency, or what recent social science literature has called 'geo-politics'. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews, ethnographic research and social network analysis, the project maps out the epistemic communities, modes of governance and resource definitions arising from shale gas controversies, with an empirical focus on EU-level policymaking and the two leading developer countries, the UK and Poland. In addition, the project puts the research findings into action by exploring what opportunities exist for experimenting with alternative forums of collective resource governance. This is achieved through a series of knowledge exchange and networking activities that bring leading social scientists specialising in unconventional energy resources together with key experts from EU and national authorities, industry, and civil society organisations.By documenting and conceptualising the 'geo-logics' and 'geo-politics' arising from European shale gas development, the project will establish a new research agenda for socio-political studies of natural resources at the intersection of resource geography and anthropology, critical geopolitics, and Science and Technology Studies. This research highlights the significance of contending resource definitions for understanding not only the challenges of unconventional energy development, but the dynamics of contemporary resource controversies and governance more generally. | |
| Publications | (none) |
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| Final Report | (none) |
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| Added to Database | 28/09/17 | |
