TY - JOUR
T1 - Mainstreaming storylines of a social innovation
T2 - The case of energy communities in Austria
AU - Vogler, Andrea
AU - Wittmayer, Julia M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - In the last four years, since Austria enabled the establishment of energy communities (ECs), their numbers have rapidly increased, and their role in Austria's energy transition has been widely discussed. This study explores how storylines of ECs, as social innovations, have changed during their introduction and diffusion. We adopt a dialectic perspective of niche diffusion and discursive struggles in sustainability transitions. Analyzing newspaper articles and interviews, we reveal initial discursive struggles and the diversification into seven storylines across four contextual phases, shaped particularly by legislative frameworks and the energy crisis. Five storylines construct ECs as positive change, one as a negative force on society, and one as ambivalent. We discuss significant changes in how storylines construct ECs, focusing on justice and citizenship, the reconstruction of actor configurations, and emerging postapocalyptic storylines. This study enriches our understanding of discursive struggles around social innovations and their potential to challenge existing configurations.
AB - In the last four years, since Austria enabled the establishment of energy communities (ECs), their numbers have rapidly increased, and their role in Austria's energy transition has been widely discussed. This study explores how storylines of ECs, as social innovations, have changed during their introduction and diffusion. We adopt a dialectic perspective of niche diffusion and discursive struggles in sustainability transitions. Analyzing newspaper articles and interviews, we reveal initial discursive struggles and the diversification into seven storylines across four contextual phases, shaped particularly by legislative frameworks and the energy crisis. Five storylines construct ECs as positive change, one as a negative force on society, and one as ambivalent. We discuss significant changes in how storylines construct ECs, focusing on justice and citizenship, the reconstruction of actor configurations, and emerging postapocalyptic storylines. This study enriches our understanding of discursive struggles around social innovations and their potential to challenge existing configurations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204047799&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100901
DO - 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100901
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85204047799
SN - 2210-4224
VL - 53
JO - Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
JF - Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
M1 - 100901
ER -