The question of ‘sustainable’ technology: From socio-ecological fixes to transformations

Abstract

This short contention discusses the role of sustainable technology within the energy transition to address climate change. It argues that the current modes of expanding sustainable or renewable energy technologies and associated infrastructures by profit-driven developers in the Global North provide limited socio-ecological fixes to environmental crisis, while largely reproducing the political-economic status quo of fossil capitalism. The fetish of technological fixes to address socio-ecological and socio-economic problems is illustrated with the author's reflections about personal experiences in a techno-scientific research environment. The article points to the necessity to rethink the ontology of technology in order to overcome techno-managerial shortcomings of socio-ecological fixes that hamper both transdisciplinary research and thorough socio-ecological transformations. For that purpose, Ernst Bloch's concept of alliance technology is briefly introduced.