Energy poverty in Northern Greece:Experiencing and contesting deprivation in conditions of crisis

Saska PetrovaUniversity of Manchester

Context

• The dismantling of traditional forms of energy provision (Nye 1996) as a result of austerity policies opens the space for non-market and informal economic strategies (Gibson-Graham 1996)

• (Re)emergence of a communal ethos and various neighbourhood ‘experiments’ (Anastasopoulos 2013)

- How do spaces of informality and austerity help address poverty and social exclusion, while sustaining the rhythms of urban everyday life?

• Informal practices understood as ways of challenging and contesting the political, economic and spatial regimes associated with austerity policies

Case study: GreeceEVENT - Energy Vulnerability and Alternative Economies in Northern Greece

funded by RGS-IBG, UK

From economic to humanitarian crisis

Electricity cuts and blackouts

Greece has the highest poverty risk rate in Europe, with approximately one quarter of the total population falling under this category (ELSTAT 2013).

The collapse of universal energy provision in this country has brought into light the complex technical, social and economic relations involved in sustaining the modern ʻtechnological sublimeʼ

Why Thessaloniki?

Relatively colder winter temperatures compared to other major urban areas in the country

Evidence of diverse economies

Field research undertaken in 2013 and 2014 under the EVENT (Energy Vulnerability in Northern Greece) project

Two sets of interviews and ‘energy diaries’ with 25 households, including 77 people in Thessaloniki

Analysis of documentary evidence, 10 decision-maker interviews

9 households2 households

1 household

13 households

Widespread presence of energy

poverty within urban and peri-

urban areas

Energy poverty beyond heating/cooling:

Lighting deprivation as a social and cultural signifier

I am afraid that people my age have lost their social identity as a result of having to deal with the crisis’ (Maria, 55 year old, unemployed)

I have to keep most of my house in the dark…but I do not feel comfortable having my grandchildren in a dark house (Spiros, 70 years old, pensioner)

Not only cold, but humid too…

Fuel switching, multiple carriers and

energy poverty:

Lighting as a coping strategy

Our family spends a lot of time around the

σομπα, it is warm, cosy and we use it to make

coffee … we appreciate the light

that it gives off (Marika, 60 years old,

unemployed)

Reshaping of everyday practices

‘We decided to use the water heater at specific times when we can all take a bath around the same time and do house chores.’

(52 year old man, travel agent)

‘If things get worse in the future I will go back to my village to live.’ (55 year old man, part time accountant)

‘We stay in our flat during the week and on the weekends we go to our villages.’ (37 year old woman, secretary)

Utilizing land assets: the ‘new peasants’

Community resources:

The beating heart of alternative economies

‘I would not be able to afford a place on my own. I am only posh when I am together with my partner.’

(37 year old woman, secretary)

‘Sometimes I go over to a friend’s house to warm up.’

(52 year old woman, homemaker)

‘We were planning to move to a better apartment, but our current neighbours help us with our children.’

(35 year old man, ambulance driver)

Discourses of crisis: the fear of blackouts

I am scared of power cuts… Without hot water and lighting our business is ruined (Alexandra, 47 years old, B&B owner)

• Energy poverty widespread in the case study area and closely contingent upon everyday spaces of informality

• The lack of energy service provision alters the patterns of energy demand and creates alternative territories and spaces of resource consumption

• Lighting is an integral part of the rise of energy poverty and an instrument of austerity. Needs and practices surrounding lighting are used as a tool for the construction of crisis and as a mechanism for controlling vulnerable groups

• The ability to switch to different carriers offers opportunities for resistance and resilience

• The intensification of collective agencies goes hand in hand with the rise of diverse economies and new locally embedded practices

Concluding thoughts

http://urban-energy.org@curemanchester

Thank you!