Transition Governance to Electromobility
Multi-Level Analysis of Socio-Technical Tensions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35362/issn.1850-0013-1011Keywords:
socio-technical transitions, electromobility, socio-technical tensions, governance, socio-technical systemsAbstract
This research aims to analyze the socio-technical tensions in multi-level governance transition to electromobility. The article argues that strategic decisions made by actors involved in multi-level governance generate socio-technical tensions —originated at the landscape and niche levels— that impact the internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) regime, during its transition to the electric vehicle (EV). This qualitative study employed document analysis to review literature of socio-technical governance transitions, as well as grey literature. The research was grounded in the analytical framework of the multilevel perspective on socio-technical systems developed by Geels and Schot (2007) and Geels (2014) to investigate tensions in governance transition. The findings reveal that the nature of socio-technical tensions deployed by actors as power strategies at the landscape, niche, and regime levels are instrumental, discursive, material, and institutional in the transition governance to EVs. Regime actors respond with strategies of resistance and adaptation. The study concludes that the hybrid vehicle acts as a transitional innovation that slows the shift toward zero-emission EVs. Furthermore, two governance models —one political and one managerial— were identified.
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