<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">The Corner House - new postings</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:notification-l@thecornerhouse.org.uk">notification-l@thecornerhouse.org.uk</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 9:25 PM<br>Subject: Energy Alternatives -- new reports from The Corner House<br>To: <a href="mailto:notification-l@thecornerhouse.org.uk">notification-l@thecornerhouse.org.uk</a><br><br><br>'Energy Alternatives: Surveying the Territory'.<br>
<a href="http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/energy-alternatives" target="_blank">http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/energy-alternatives</a><br>
<br>
'The Museum of Fetishes'<br>
<a href="http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/museum-fetishes" target="_blank">http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/museum-fetishes</a><br>
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<br>
The main conflict in energy policy today is not between 'business as<br>
usual' and 'The Alternative', but among the many different proposed<br>
alternatives themselves.<br>
<br>
The difficulty is not just that these alternatives are so diverse; the<br>
questions they address and the problems they aim to tackle are also<br>
different, as are the criteria for answering them, the vocabularies in<br>
which they are expressed, and the politics with which they are associated.<br>
<br>
Figuring out what the assumptions and audiences of the various energy<br>
alternatives are is half the work of assessing where a democratic and<br>
survivable energy future might lie.<br>
<br>
If the many divergent conversations about 'energy alternatives' taking<br>
place today around the world are to be brought together, analytically or<br>
politically, their points of difference and conflict as well as their<br>
possible areas of synergy must be recognized and mapped.<br>
<br>
To support uncritically any and all initiatives that describe themselves<br>
as 'energy alternatives' would be to invite chaos and unending conflict --<br>
and would make a liveable energy future impossible.<br>
<br>
A new 96-page report, 'Energy Alternatives: Surveying the Territory', from<br>
The Corner House and its partners, attempts to move discussions forward<br>
not by simplifying the debate but by clarifying how complex it is.<br>
<br>
It sketches four crucial differences among leading types of energy<br>
alternative proposals and initiatives:<br>
<br>
--They are organized around different questions and audiences.<br>
<br>
--They rely on different conceptions of energy's historical and social<br>
entanglements.<br>
<br>
--They follow different political theories and processes.<br>
<br>
--They have different understandings of the relationship between the local<br>
and the global.<br>
<br>
The report explores each of these divides before outlining how -- under<br>
these conditions of radical, contradictory diversity -- civil society<br>
might best encourage the democratic dialogue and alliance-building that<br>
constitutes the most important aspect of effective action toward a<br>
survivable energy future.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/energy-alternatives" target="_blank">http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/energy-alternatives</a><br>
<br>
NOTE: A limited number of paper copies of this report are available.<br>
Please contact The Corner House for more information.<br>
<enquiries AT <a href="http://thecornerhouse.org.uk" target="_blank">thecornerhouse.org.uk</a>><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
'The Museum of Fetishes'<br>
<a href="http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/museum-fetishes" target="_blank">http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/museum-fetishes</a><br>
<br>
Depictions of the alternative energy technologies of the future suggest<br>
salvation is at hand -- but most of the politics and material realities<br>
associated with them are invariably missing.<br>
<br>
This article accompanying the report attempts to bring them into the<br>
picture, so that essential discussions about energy alternatives and<br>
futures do not degenerate into an irrelevant show of magic tricks.<br>
<br>
<br>
We hope you find these new postings useful and interesting and welcome any<br>
feedback.<br>
<br>
Best wishes from all at The Corner House.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a>� - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br>
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