Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire

The permanent shut down of Fessenheim nuclear power plant in June 2020 had been preceded by the signature of a policy document, the Projet d’avenir du territoire de Fessenheim (PAT), which aims at ensuring its industrial reconversion. Drafted by the French administration’s services and local authori...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Teva Meyer, Fanny Vallerand, Valentine Bour, Charlotte Dauwe, Valentine Erne-Heintz, Thomas Schellenberger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université de Reims Champagne-Ardennes 2022-03-01
Series:L'Espace Politique
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/espacepolitique/9674
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849328170641129472
author Teva Meyer
Fanny Vallerand
Valentine Bour
Charlotte Dauwe
Valentine Erne-Heintz
Thomas Schellenberger
author_facet Teva Meyer
Fanny Vallerand
Valentine Bour
Charlotte Dauwe
Valentine Erne-Heintz
Thomas Schellenberger
author_sort Teva Meyer
collection DOAJ
description The permanent shut down of Fessenheim nuclear power plant in June 2020 had been preceded by the signature of a policy document, the Projet d’avenir du territoire de Fessenheim (PAT), which aims at ensuring its industrial reconversion. Drafted by the French administration’s services and local authorities, it introduces three spatial scales framing the post-nuclear transition. Mobilizing the case of Fessenheim, this paper offers to strengthen our knowledge of the politics of scales’ concrete practices within energy transitions by questioning (1) the impact of these three scales on the post-nuclear transition and (2) the sociopolitical dynamics leading to their production. By moderating the dominant constructivist approach to scales, sometimes criticized for its teleological nature, we focus on actors’ “scalecrafts”, understood as the messy craftwork, techniques, competences and difficulties underpinning all scalar assemblage. To do so, this paper is built on a corpus of regional newspaper’s articles and 46 semi-directive interviews with actors involved in the PAT’s production. Results show that these scales, which are effectively constraining the extend of the post-nuclear transition, relies on three dynamics: discursive strategies tending to naturalize and essentialize scales through the economization of the debates as well as legal interpretations; the politicization of the transition around the conflicting issue of tax losses’ compensation; and lobbying efforts by local authorities. We conclude by identifying seven entangled factors participating in the scales’ production. These results lead us to question the process of territorial denuclearization.
format Article
id doaj-art-01bd8bae93304e72bd4afec84b6cc93c
institution Kabale University
issn 1958-5500
language English
publishDate 2022-03-01
publisher Université de Reims Champagne-Ardennes
record_format Article
series L'Espace Politique
spelling doaj-art-01bd8bae93304e72bd4afec84b6cc93c2025-08-20T03:47:40ZengUniversité de Reims Champagne-ArdennesL'Espace Politique1958-55002022-03-014310.4000/espacepolitique.9674Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaireTeva MeyerFanny VallerandValentine BourCharlotte DauweValentine Erne-HeintzThomas SchellenbergerThe permanent shut down of Fessenheim nuclear power plant in June 2020 had been preceded by the signature of a policy document, the Projet d’avenir du territoire de Fessenheim (PAT), which aims at ensuring its industrial reconversion. Drafted by the French administration’s services and local authorities, it introduces three spatial scales framing the post-nuclear transition. Mobilizing the case of Fessenheim, this paper offers to strengthen our knowledge of the politics of scales’ concrete practices within energy transitions by questioning (1) the impact of these three scales on the post-nuclear transition and (2) the sociopolitical dynamics leading to their production. By moderating the dominant constructivist approach to scales, sometimes criticized for its teleological nature, we focus on actors’ “scalecrafts”, understood as the messy craftwork, techniques, competences and difficulties underpinning all scalar assemblage. To do so, this paper is built on a corpus of regional newspaper’s articles and 46 semi-directive interviews with actors involved in the PAT’s production. Results show that these scales, which are effectively constraining the extend of the post-nuclear transition, relies on three dynamics: discursive strategies tending to naturalize and essentialize scales through the economization of the debates as well as legal interpretations; the politicization of the transition around the conflicting issue of tax losses’ compensation; and lobbying efforts by local authorities. We conclude by identifying seven entangled factors participating in the scales’ production. These results lead us to question the process of territorial denuclearization.https://journals.openedition.org/espacepolitique/9674scaleenergy transitionnuclear powerFessenheimreconversionpolitics of scales
spellingShingle Teva Meyer
Fanny Vallerand
Valentine Bour
Charlotte Dauwe
Valentine Erne-Heintz
Thomas Schellenberger
Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire
L'Espace Politique
scale
energy transition
nuclear power
Fessenheim
reconversion
politics of scales
title Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire
title_full Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire
title_fullStr Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire
title_full_unstemmed Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire
title_short Produire les échelles de la transition à Fessenheim : contingences et jeu d’acteurs autour de la fermeture d’une centrale nucléaire
title_sort produire les echelles de la transition a fessenheim contingences et jeu d acteurs autour de la fermeture d une centrale nucleaire
topic scale
energy transition
nuclear power
Fessenheim
reconversion
politics of scales
url https://journals.openedition.org/espacepolitique/9674
work_keys_str_mv AT tevameyer produirelesechellesdelatransitionafessenheimcontingencesetjeudacteursautourdelafermeturedunecentralenucleaire
AT fannyvallerand produirelesechellesdelatransitionafessenheimcontingencesetjeudacteursautourdelafermeturedunecentralenucleaire
AT valentinebour produirelesechellesdelatransitionafessenheimcontingencesetjeudacteursautourdelafermeturedunecentralenucleaire
AT charlottedauwe produirelesechellesdelatransitionafessenheimcontingencesetjeudacteursautourdelafermeturedunecentralenucleaire
AT valentineerneheintz produirelesechellesdelatransitionafessenheimcontingencesetjeudacteursautourdelafermeturedunecentralenucleaire
AT thomasschellenberger produirelesechellesdelatransitionafessenheimcontingencesetjeudacteursautourdelafermeturedunecentralenucleaire