IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 25

institutions that control access to
rights. Addressing cultural domi-
nance could encompass extensive
legal reformation; the establishment
of anti-corruption legislation that
limits political interference and pro-
motes merit-based employment and
business contracting; and legisla-
tion that institutes regulatory bod-
ies for investors and local industries
that are independent, transparent,
and accountable to the courts.
Second is a need to create spaces
for, and to support diverse visions
of, rights and what the exercise of
rights means [65]. Even within one
river basin, ideas of resource, subsis-
tence, autonomy, identity, economy,
and development can differ widely.
Acknowledging and empowering non-
dominant bio-cultural experiences
of nature is a move towards peace
with justice. Importantly, enclosure
through restructuring resource use
can have the same impact as enclo-
sure through physical fencing [68].
So, seemingly inclusive solutions to
environmental conflict that involve
community management of forests,
payment for ecological services, algo-
rithmic river flow control, or other such
initiatives should be approached
thoughtfully and through truly partici-
patory decision-making processes.
Third, while inclusivity is critical,
the legitimate community of people
who have rights to participate cannot
be a foregone assumption in nego-
tiation processes [63]. Creation of
such a community will involve con-
scientious attention to the diverse
and more nuanced expressions of
agency (political, ecological, and
cultural) that are important in iden-
tification of stakeholders for public
participation and involvement. An
organized civil society that acknowl-
edges its own diversity will further
support a broader representation in
decision-making processes.
In their popular paper on the
virtues of mundane science, Kam-
JUNE 2018

men and Dove themselves state that
"the major obstacles to develop-
ing sound environmental practices
are not principally technological,
though expanding our research
efforts in that area is critically im-
portant. Instead, the primary stum-
bling block is the lack of integrative
approaches to complex systems and
problems [69, p. 12]." Especially as
large-scale energy infrastructure and
technology is projected to dominate
energy planning policy in emerging
economies, we argue that there is
no time to ignore the pressing and
yet often overlooked issues of prob-
lem definition, inclusivity, and po -
wer dynamics. Addressing these
seemingly mundane, yet fundamen-
tal, challenges may be the radical
solution our global society needs.

Author Information
Rebekah Shirley is the Director of
Research at Power for All and a
Research Affiliate of the Renewable
and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
(RAEL) at the University of California,
Berkeley. Email: rebekah.shirley@
berkeley.edu.
Daniel Kammen is professor and
Chair of the Energy and Resourc-
es Group, and a Professor of Pub-
lic Policy, and Nuclear Engineering
a t the University of Califor nia,
Berkeley. He directs the Renewable
and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
(real.berkeley.edu), and contribut-
ed to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
awarded to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change.

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

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