Publications by Fellows: Rosa Lehmann and Pedro Alarcón: Political Economy and Energy Justice: Rentier Dynamics in Fossil Extractivist States in Latin America

Rosa Lehmann and our Fellow Pedro Alarcón has authored a chapter on political economy and energy justice in a new volume entitled Energy Justice in Latin America Reflections, Lessons and Critiques (Routledge, 2025), edited by Adolfo Mejía-Montero.

According to the abstract, energy justice research delves into injustices along the energy value chain, with particular attention to vulnerable groups and marginalized communities. Studies focus on localities facing energy poverty, where infrastructures are implemented and/or energy resources are extracted. Increasingly, the challenges that arise for specific political economies of extractivist states are of concern to this research field. We understand extractivist states as states where national budgets and government expenditures heavily depend on rent generated by natural resource extraction and exportation without significant value added. This contribution brings together literature from energy justice research with those on rentier state theory, (neo-) extractivism, and oil-led development. It does so, first, to recap the importance of revenues generated by fossil fuel exports for budgets of extractivist states, and their distribution among society via the provision of ‘cheap’ energy, or subsidized oil products for domestic consumption. Second, it carves out the implications of energy transitions for extractivist states and subsequently discusses them in light of energy justice dimensions.

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