The temporalities of energy transition processes

Abstract : This chapter provides a critical inquiry into the processes of time-making and agreeing upon collective horizons for the energy transition. A broad range of academic literature looks at the energy transition as an interval, a ‘matter of timing’ (historical drivers, pace of the transition), in which distant futures and anticipatory attitudes steer the way in which to bridge a gap. Different from this, this chapter develops a pragmatic framework which approaches the energy transition as a process of change in which new assemblages and new durations are performed. Analysing different case studies in France and Germany, it shows that ‘nearness’ (recent past and near future) has a major influence on the steering of energy transition processes because it is a disputed zone for selecting, renaming entities from different times, and agreeing upon new enduring assemblages.