Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys
This article aims to think afresh about the materiality of hydropower dams in Alpine valleys, an old-new energy hotspot expected to resume its central position on the renewable stage. It asks a simple question: does the energy transition agenda affect the materiality of infrastructures which remains...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Institut de Géographie Alpine
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Revue de Géographie Alpine |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rga/9530 |
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| author | Emmanuelle Santoire Jean Desroche Romain Garcier |
| author_facet | Emmanuelle Santoire Jean Desroche Romain Garcier |
| author_sort | Emmanuelle Santoire |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article aims to think afresh about the materiality of hydropower dams in Alpine valleys, an old-new energy hotspot expected to resume its central position on the renewable stage. It asks a simple question: does the energy transition agenda affect the materiality of infrastructures which remains ostensibly identical? To answer this question, we use Philippe Descola’s distinction between materiality and physicality and apply it to a case study of the Sautet hydroelectric dam in the French Alps. Indeed, the European energy transition is partly based on the realization of a single liberalized market and the competitive renewal of dam concessions is a key step in this process. Yet, we argue that amidst these changes, the materiality of the studied dam remains substantially the same, while its physicality changes for strategic reasons. Local opposition to liberalization engages a re-evaluation of the physicality of dams (i.e., the way they are supposed to function) in three aspects: their role in river regulation; their territorial dimension; and their financial and fiscal mediating role. The study shows that hydroelectric materiality is a relational element, subject to interpretation between competing values and interests. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6f5ce686f4e84af5ad3276e2339559b4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0035-1121 1760-7426 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Institut de Géographie Alpine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue de Géographie Alpine |
| spelling | doaj-art-6f5ce686f4e84af5ad3276e2339559b42025-08-20T01:57:35ZdeuInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262021-12-01109310.4000/rga.9530Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine ValleysEmmanuelle SantoireJean DesrocheRomain GarcierThis article aims to think afresh about the materiality of hydropower dams in Alpine valleys, an old-new energy hotspot expected to resume its central position on the renewable stage. It asks a simple question: does the energy transition agenda affect the materiality of infrastructures which remains ostensibly identical? To answer this question, we use Philippe Descola’s distinction between materiality and physicality and apply it to a case study of the Sautet hydroelectric dam in the French Alps. Indeed, the European energy transition is partly based on the realization of a single liberalized market and the competitive renewal of dam concessions is a key step in this process. Yet, we argue that amidst these changes, the materiality of the studied dam remains substantially the same, while its physicality changes for strategic reasons. Local opposition to liberalization engages a re-evaluation of the physicality of dams (i.e., the way they are supposed to function) in three aspects: their role in river regulation; their territorial dimension; and their financial and fiscal mediating role. The study shows that hydroelectric materiality is a relational element, subject to interpretation between competing values and interests.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/9530Alpshydroelectric damsconcessionsphysicalitywater ontologies |
| spellingShingle | Emmanuelle Santoire Jean Desroche Romain Garcier Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys Revue de Géographie Alpine Alps hydroelectric dams concessions physicality water ontologies |
| title | Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys |
| title_full | Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys |
| title_fullStr | Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys |
| title_short | Physicalities in Transition: The Case of Hydropower Dams in French Alpine Valleys |
| title_sort | physicalities in transition the case of hydropower dams in french alpine valleys |
| topic | Alps hydroelectric dams concessions physicality water ontologies |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rga/9530 |
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