Fair enough? A qualitative approach to notions of justice in local energy transition conflicts

This study draws on energy justice research to examine existing notions of justice in two regions in Germany where conflicts over energy transition measures take place. Arguing that negotiations on a fair energy transition process inherit political and social conflict potential, this article analyses the perceptions of justice to identify mobilisation and conflict issues in the field using three core tenets of justice (distributive justice, procedural justice and justice-based recognition) as an analytical framework. In order to gain an impression of the spectrum of justice negotiations and to investigate whether indications for conflict issues exist, we compared two regions that are affected by energy transition measures with diverging levels of invasiveness. The first case is the district of Ahrweiler, which is affected by the conversion of an existing power line and is, thus, objectively being a measure with a rather low impact on the region and the people living there. As a second case, we look at Lusatia, which is facing major structural changes due to the local coal phase-out. Using an extensive qualitative data set, the perceptions of justice of those not involved in the conflicts are analysed, which enables the comparison of the regional justice discourses. By undertaking the comparison, we provide a first overview of the range of justice negotiations and examine the differences and commonalities which hint at local and national mobilisation and conflict potentials. Albeit not delivering final explanations for the results, the article presents various explanatory approaches, which need to be tested by future research.