Suchergebnisse

This paper explores the relationship between 'postpolitics' and processes of rescaling enacted through planning reform. It centres empirically on the policy shift which has occurred in planning since the inception of the Planning Act 2008—the new framework which will oversee the development of new nuclear power and other large-scale infrastructural developments in the UK. This act has radically altered the ways in which publics can engage with government policy. Using interview data gathered from participants in recent nuclear power consultations, as well as participants in the old inquiry-based system of the 1980s, it is argued that processes of rescaling through the Planning Act have diminished the 'political opportunities' available for certain nongovernmental actors to intervene in the policy process. This has contributed to the postpoliticisation of the planning framework in certain arenas, which raises significant questions concerning public engagement and democratic accountability within the wider context of the modernisation of planning. The potential consequences of these developments are discussed.

Dr Phil Johnstone and Prof Andy Stirling, University of Sussex, examine the entanglements between Britain's civilian and military nuclear programmes and ask, would the UK be building new nuclear power stations if it weren't for pressure from the military lobby?

The energy sector plays a significant role in reaching the ambitious climate policy target of limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C. To this end, technological change has to be redirected and accelerated in the direction of zero-carbon solutions. Given the urgency and magnitude of the climate change challenge it has been argued that this calls for a policy mix which simultaneously supports low-carbon solutions and also deliberately drives the discontinuation of the established technological regime. Yet, the effect of such phase-out policies on the development and diffusion of low-carbon technologies has received little attention in empirical research so far. This paper addresses this gap by taking the case of the transition of the German electricity generation system towards renewable energies – the so-called Ener-giewende. Based on a survey of innovation activities of German manufacturers of renewable power gener-ation technologies conducted in 2014 it explores the impact such destabilization policies – most prominent-ly Germany's nuclear phase-out policy – may have on technological change in renewable energies. By drawing on descriptive statistics and combining insights from earlier regression analyses we find evidence that Germany's nuclear phase-out policy had a positive influence on manufacturers' innovation expendi-tures for renewable energies and was seen as the by far most influential policy instrument for the further expansion of renewable energies in Germany. The insights resulting from our explorative analysis have important implications for the literature on policy mixes and sustainability transitions regarding the 'flip sides' to innovation and the crucial importance of destabilization policies for unleashing 'destructive crea-tion'. We close by discussing policy repercussions for ongoing debates on policies for accelerating the phase-out of coal to meet climate change targets.

A Nuclear Refrain is a spatial fiction that critiques the policy of nuclear deterrence, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, and the UK's decision to replace its Vanguard submarines, so-called Trident replacement. We challenge that decision via extending our geographical imaginations into the past, present, and future. Noting the more usual economic, moral, and strategic objections to Trident and its replacement, A Nuclear Refrain considers the issues from less familiar perspectives: the emotional and embodied, empire and the establishment, and the impact on democratic potentialities. Set against the authors' ongoing participation in extensive public protests against the UK's decision to replace Trident in 2016, A Nuclear Refrain disrupts familiar academic and policy forms of writing. It is "an uncomfortable hybrid between academia and fiction," intent on discomfiting the reader to spur the radical reimagining of a world profoundly shaped by the threat of nuclear weapons. Inspired by author and social critic Charles Dickens, this book draws on the form of A Christmas Carol. Transported by "ghosts" of the nuclear past, present and future, a pro-Trident British policy maker, the Right Honourable Roger C. Bezeeneos, has his perceptions sorely challenged. But will Roger allow his feelings to influence his decision-making? Will he recognize the yearning for empire-lost that mobilizes the British establishment? And will he admit the limiting of political participation that a commitment to nuclear deterrence determines? It's your call, Roger."

"A Nuclear Refrain is a spatial fiction that critiques the
policy of nuclear deterrence, the concept of Mutually Assured
Destruction, and the UK's decision to replace its Vanguard submarines,
so-called Trident replacement. We challenge that decision via extending
our geographical imaginations into the past, present, and future. Noting
the more usual economic, moral, and strategic objections to Trident and
its replacement, A Nuclear Refrain considers the issues from
less familiar perspectives: the emotional and embodied, empire and the
establishment, and the impact on democratic potentialities.
Set against the authors' ongoing participation in extensive public
protests against the UK's decision to replace Trident in 2016, A Nuclear Refrain
disrupts familiar academic and policy forms of writing. It is "an
uncomfortable hybrid between academia and fiction," intent on
discomfiting the reader to spur the radical reimagining of a world
profoundly shaped by the threat of nuclear weapons. Inspired by author
and social critic Charles Dickens, this book draws on the form of A Christmas Carol.
Transported by "ghosts" of the nuclear past, present and future, a
pro-Trident British policy maker, the Right Honourable Roger C.
Bezeeneos, has his perceptions sorely challenged. But will Roger allow
his feelings to influence his decision-making? Will he recognize the
yearning for empire-lost that mobilizes the British establishment? And
will he admit the limiting of political participation that a commitment
to nuclear deterrence determines? It's your call, Roger."