Energy Poverty and Policy Coherence in India

TY - CHAP

T1 - Energy Poverty and Policy Coherence in India

AU - Jaeger, Mark Daniel

AU - Michaelowa, Katharina

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Energy poverty is frequently mobilized as a normative argument in international negotiations. Typically, the concrete linkages between political propositions at international level and domestic policies remain ill-defined, and thus invite different stakeholders to make use of terms like “energy poverty” for their own purposes. In other words, “energy poverty” remains a contested concept that lends itself to social norm construction. Whether, under these conditions, national policies and their implementation then truly serve the interest of the poor is an open question. Indeed, critics at both the international and the national level suggest that political actors in India might hijack salient normative positions on energy poverty in order to advance their own agenda. To assess whether domestic politics are consistent with the pro-poor normative discourse at the international level, we examine (i) the domestic discourse, (ii) the way in which norms appear in this context, and (iii) the resulting policy outcomes. Domestic politics on energy can either be openly serving vested interests, or they can to varying extent yield normative energy poverty reduction positions. In the latter case, rational political actors may on the one hand pursue such norms as ends, as largely presumed by the literature on international norm diffusion (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998). On the other hand however, political actors as strategic players may merely utilize norms as means to pursuing other political ambitions.

AB - Energy poverty is frequently mobilized as a normative argument in international negotiations. Typically, the concrete linkages between political propositions at international level and domestic policies remain ill-defined, and thus invite different stakeholders to make use of terms like “energy poverty” for their own purposes. In other words, “energy poverty” remains a contested concept that lends itself to social norm construction. Whether, under these conditions, national policies and their implementation then truly serve the interest of the poor is an open question. Indeed, critics at both the international and the national level suggest that political actors in India might hijack salient normative positions on energy poverty in order to advance their own agenda. To assess whether domestic politics are consistent with the pro-poor normative discourse at the international level, we examine (i) the domestic discourse, (ii) the way in which norms appear in this context, and (iii) the resulting policy outcomes. Domestic politics on energy can either be openly serving vested interests, or they can to varying extent yield normative energy poverty reduction positions. In the latter case, rational political actors may on the one hand pursue such norms as ends, as largely presumed by the literature on international norm diffusion (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998). On the other hand however, political actors as strategic players may merely utilize norms as means to pursuing other political ambitions.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9781472458292

SP - 235

EP - 249

BT - Challenges of European External Energy Governance with Emerging Powers

A2 - Knodt, Michele

A2 - Piefer, Nadine

A2 - Müller, Franziska

PB - Ashgate

CY - London; N.Y.

ER -