Energy Crisis and Social Transformation

The 2026 oil crisis makes visible society’s energy dependence. The US war on Iran demonstrates (again) how social power rests on the power of energy. Ironically, the war, and the current scramble for oil, point beyond the status quo, highlighting the necessity for alternatives. When access to energy gets harder, the world as we know it changes.

This workshop addresses this agenda, encompassing the impact of wider crises, especially the climate crisis, and the implications for social power and transformation. What does history tell us about energy and social change? What are the agendas for energy transformation today, for social justice and climate action? How do different societies engage with energy transitions, from radically different contexts? How can ‘energy transformation’ be understood and conceptualised, including across different approaches and contexts?

The workshop aims at dialogue amongst researchers, activists and advocates. There are four roundtable panels, aiming for wide-ranging discussion. Panel participants and topics will be announced closer to the date. The workshop opens with a keynote address from the Director of the Just Transitions Research Centre at IIT Kanpur, India, who is visiting UTS in early June. It concludes with a launch involving authors of Decarbonising Electricity: The Promise of Renewable Energy Regions (Cambridge University Press).

Programme 

Date: Tuesday 2 June 2026, 9.00am–6.00pm

Online: Zoom ID 863 764 5831 | Passcode 345711

In-person: UTS Broadway, Building 6, Level 4, Room 37 (CB06.04.037)

• 9.00am – Coffee and informal introductions
• 9.20–9.30 – Acknowledgement of Country and welcome (Kate Barclay, Director, C-SERC)
• 9.30–10.30 – Keynote + discussion: Prof Pradip Swarnakar, Just Transitions Research Centre, IIT Kanpur
• 10.30–12.00 – Panel 1: Histories of energy transformation – lessons for now?
• 12.00–12.30 – Lunch (at venue)
• 12.30–1.30 – Panel 2: Energy transformation today – agendas and strategies
• 1.30–3.00 – Panel 3: Conceptualising energy transformation – approaches and contexts
• 3.00–3.30 – Coffee break
• 3.30–5.00 – Panel 4: Launch of Decarbonising Energy (CUP 2025) – discussion with authors
• 5.00–6.00 – Informal drinks and dinner

Further information: James Goodman