Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
Increased attention to inclusive processes is essential to ensure injustices are not perpetuated during energy transitions. Crises, such as the collapse of the electric grid in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, present the promise of opening windows of opportunity for new ideas and voices to inform the future, but they also create opportunities for powerful interests to reinforce existing power dynamics. While coloniality has been recognized as a barrier to sustainable energy transformations, greater integration of the literature on climate coloniality and sustainability transitions is needed. This chapter analyzes visions of the future of the energy system among diverse constituents in Puerto Rico. Drawing on 87 qualitative interviews conducted before and after Hurricane Maria, it explores how crises impact people’s visions of the future of the energy system in the context of the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the US. While participants presented similar visions that Puerto Rico would eventually have a renewable energy system in pre- and post-Maria interviews, the motivations articulated for this transition were markedly different. In contrast to the optimistic, technologically-driven visions discussed pre-Maria, post-Maria visions were more pessimistic and attentive to power dynamics, reflecting a collective disillusionment consistent with understandings of climate coloniality. Despite the opportunity for change created by the crisis, colonial power dynamics were reinforced after Hurricane Maria, posing challenges for narratives of rapid, just energy transformations.
Recommended Citation
Kuhl, Laura, et al. “Crises, Coloniality, and Energy Transformations in Puerto Rico.” Confronting Climate Coloniality: Decolonizing Pathways for Climate Justice, 1st ed., Routledge, 2025, pp. 188–203. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003465973-15
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
First Page
188
Last Page
203
Publication Title
Confronting Climate Coloniality: Decolonizing Pathways for Climate Justice
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003465973-15
Included in
Environmental Sciences Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, Sociology Commons
Comments
Copyright the Authors. This chapter has been made available under a CC- BY- NC- ND 4.0 license