Ep. 029 — Solar coops and why they (could) rule /w Ashley [EN]

Leneșx Radio

In today’s episode we talk with author, professor, and activist Ashley Dawson about the neoliberal city in the context of climate change and the liberatory potential inherent in community solar energy projects. The first half of the episode follows our guest’s book, Extreme Cities. The discussion starts from observations on the usual scale of reporting and perception of climate change – global or national, but not the urban scale. We talk about how large climate projects are often designed with planned obsolescence in mind, and first of all serve the interests of the elites; about the unequal impact of climate change and how communities often respond through what Ashely calls disaster communism; and about community solar energy as an example of such a collective (preventive in this case) response in the face of crisis. The second half of the ep. is based on Ashley’s book, People’s Power, and makes a case for community managed solar energy projects as a progressive tool through which to tackle the issue of energy poverty and the looming climate apocalypse. The topics that we cover include the solar commons as an analytical and discursive tool, issues of accessibility (financial, technological etc) surrounding solar projects, and reflections on how the state fits into the picture. ===== Re(Sources) Vlad Zaha: yt: @vladzaha806 fb: vlad.g.zaha ig: zaha.vlad Ashley Dawson https://ashleydawson.info/ Ashley Dawson, Extreme Cities: Climate Chaos and the Urban Future, Verso Books (2016). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28952797-extreme-cities Ashley Dawson, People’s Power: Reclaiming the Energy Commons, OR Books (2020). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52636876-people-power People’s power discussion series https://youtu.be/zIRen05iYSk https://youtu.be/r1T5rzf1ndc https://youtu.be/8uFujxQ-PJ0 https://youtu.be/tVwUw3H-6VE Public Power New York https://publicpowerny.org/ Community Renewables Podcast https://soundcloud.com/user-528766714 Thea Riofrancos, Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador, Duke University Press (2020). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51897844-resource-radicals Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri, Commonwealth, Belknap Press (2009). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6384328-commonwealth Pierre Dardot & Christian Laval, Common: On Revolution in the 21st Century, Bloomsbury Academic Press (2019). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44175765-common After Oil Collective (AOC) https://afteroil.ca/ AOC, Solarities: Seeking Energy Justice, Univ of Minnesota Press (2022) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60615208-solarities Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, Harvard University Press (2011). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429440-slow-violence-and-the-environmentalism-of-the-poor Christoph Rupprecht (Ed.), Deborah Cleland (Ed.), Norie Tamura (Ed.), Rajat Chaudhuri (Ed.), Sarena Ulibarri (Ed.), Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures, World Weaver Press (2021). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56906532-multispecies-cities Artwork by Alis Balogh Music: The Sound by Adelaide https://open.spotify.com/artist/5JrWus8N8CfANNXBNDMAfK ig: @_adelaide_band_ sotb podcast: https://www.seasonoftheb.com/