Brown bag: A presentation of Solar Technology and Global Environmental Justice - The Vision and the Reality
and a conversation on the “why” and “how” of academic book publishing
Welcome to a seminar with EHL researcher Andreas Roos! He will give you a presentation of his monograph "Solar technology and global environmental justice: The vision and the reality" followed by a conversation on the why and how of academic book publishing. Vegan ciabattas are served for everyone that register!
Time: Wed 2023-05-17 11.45 - 12.45
Location: Big seminar room, Teknikringen 74D (floor 5)
Language: English
Participating: Andreas Roos
A presentation of Solar Technology and Global Environmental Justice: The Vision and the Reality
And a conversation on the “why” and “how” of academic book publishing
For this brown-bag seminar, I will present my newly published monograph Solar technology and global environmental justice: The vision and the reality. The book is based on the results of my Ph.D. thesis focusing on large-scale solar development and ecologically unequal exchange. The book includes an additional chapter and a more compelling narrative structure. After the presentation, I would like to open up for a conversation on the "why" and "how" of academic book publishing.
"Building on insights from ecological economics and philosophy of technology, this book offers a novel, interdisciplinary approach to understand the contradictory nature of Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is rapidly emerging as a cost-effective option in the world economy. However, reports about miserable working conditions, environmentally deleterious mineral extraction and toxic waste dumps corrode the image of a problem-free future based on solar power. Against this backdrop, Andreas Roos explores whether ‘ecologically unequal exchange’ – an asymmetric transfer of labour time and natural resources – is a necessary condition for solar PV development. He demonstrates how the massive increase in solar PV installation over recent years would not have been possible without significant wage/price differences in the world economy - notably between Europe/North America and Asia- and concludes that solar PV development is currently contingent on environmental injustices in the world economy. As a solution, Roos argues that solar technology is best coupled with strategies for degrowth, which allow for a transition away from fossil fuels and towards a socially just and ecologically sustainable future."