Dissonant justifications : an organisational perspective of support for Australian community energy

Declan Kuch, Bronwen Morgan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper presents a narrative ethnography of a Sydney-based community energy venture called Pingala, drawing on participant observation and action research carried out over an 18-month period from April 2013. The narrative presents a socially embedded account of a) the intersection of biography and expertise in the practices of community energy ‘entrepreneurs’, and b) the process of negotiating community energy support infrastructure. The organisational perspective of Pingala provides the primary focus for justifications of community energy’s worth that must navigate interpersonal and macro-level policy concerns. This sociology of justification perspective shows how incommensurable evaluations of worth justify different forms of support for community energy enterprises such as Pingala. The paper concludes with some remarks on these forms, relating Pingala’s experience negotiating support infrastructure to lessons for Australia’s nascent community energy sector.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)177-189
Number of pages13
JournalPeople , Place and Policy
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • ethnology
  • solar energy
  • Sydney (N.S.W.)
  • communities

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