A study by Paola Velasco-Herrejón (University of Oslo) and Thomas Bauwens (Erasmus University Rotterdam) investigates how wind energy developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, may perpetuate economic inequalities. The authors reveal that local resistance is often framed around health and environmental concerns to mask deeper economic grievances. The paper highlights the importance of equitable distribution of economic benefits for socially just energy transitions.

The paper, titled “Are energy transitions reproducing inequalities? Power, social stigma and distributive (in)justice in Mexico“, is published in the Global Environmental Change Journal.

Relying on 64 interviews and participant observations, this study examines the discourses adopted by people resisting wind energy developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. The findings indicate that anti-wind activists used health and environmental concerns as a framing device to avoid social rejection and legitimize other concerns about the uneven allocation of economic benefits.

“When examining socially just energy transitions, it is important to consider how inequalities are framed and the underlying reasons for these schemas of interpretation.”

Paola Velasco-Herrejón and Thomas Bauwens