Energy Governance in the Eurasian Space: Economics and Materiality

Abstract

This panel will address the role of materiality in energy governance and economics in the geographic space of Eurasia. It will identify, explore and conceptualize the on-going transformation of energy governance and the changing relationships between the state and its citizens with commercial actors and the market at the local, national and international level. It will trace and critically investigate how the different actors’ relationships and strategies have developed, for what purpose and with what effects. The panel will thereby broaden the agenda for studying energy governance in the Eurasian space to integrate economic relations into the perceived political struggles, and to account for the materiality of energy production, distribution and consumption. The panel features five in-depth case studies that discuss how considerations pertaining to energy economics (markets, prices, new and alternative technologies), resource geography and material energy infrastructure (extraction, production, transport, storage and distribution facilities) are shaping energy governance in the Eurasian space. The papers consider multiple levels (interregional, national and local) and different types of energy relations (steered by the state vs governed by market and competition rules) as well as different dimensions of how materiality plays into the politics and economics of energy infrastructure. The panel contributions provide a better understanding of the interconnectedness of different levels and dimensions of energy governance in a geographic space governed by fundamentally conflicting rules and interests. The five case studies on energy governance in the Eurasian space look each at materiality from a different angle. Tynkkynen explores from a comparative perspective the ‘energopower’ practices of two Russian energy companies (Gazprom and Rosneft) and their engagement with the population, investigating the socio-cultural settings within which each pursues its projects and the development of non-energy infrastructure alongside the energy infrastructure. Sharples zooms in on the ‘energy island’ and natural gas infrastructure in the Baltic Sea in the context of the EU’s governance system and explores the interplay between materiality, governance and energy economics with a focus on the efforts of Estonia and Finland to end their isolation. Vicari and Yilmaz trace the evolution of EU policy and investigate the interplay between the material and political to determine how security of supply considerations, diversification ambitions and infrastructure options shape the EU’s energy policy, paying particular attention to key transit (Turkey; Ukraine) and producer alternatives (Azerbaijan; Turkmenistan). De Jong and Schmidt-Felzmann both examine Nord Stream, the most controversial major contemporary gas pipeline project in the Eurasian space. While de Jong scrutinizes the trade-offs between material alternatives, geopolitical considerations and commercial feasibility, Schmidt-Felzmann investigates the jigsaw puzzle of actors, interests and consequences of the Nord Stream pipelines with a focus on the ‘forgotten’ material aspects.

Title	Details
'Epiphytes' of energy infrastructure and Russian energopower	View Paper Details
Energy island no more? Finland and Estonia in a changing Baltic gas market	View Paper Details
The Nord Stream pipelines: Not just business, and not just about gas	View Paper Details
The EU’s external energy policy: How EU policy is shaped by energy security and relations with neighbouring producer and transit countries	View Paper Details