Energy justice without democracy? Energy transitions in the era of right-wing authoritarianism in Hungary

Abstract

Contemporary energy justice scholarship almost exclusively focuses on distributional, recognitional, and procedural justice concerns – how the ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of energy schemes are distributed, which sections of society are marginalised, and identifying processes for their remediation. However, while an escalating climate crisis spurs on unprecedented investments in green energy, undemocratic political regimes present a deeper challenge to energy transition projects. This article revisits the energy justice debate as a broader question of democracy, engaging purposefully with the democratic deficits in energy transition politics engendered by far-right authoritarian rule in Hungary. It does so through a mixed-methods approach that combines a policy evaluation of key national strategies on the energy transition, interviews with experts and stakeholders in energy poverty, and ethnographic field visits to energy-poor areas. Our results highlight how far-right authoritarian regimes can mobilise energy transition discourses, policies and projects to consolidate power, while simultaneously marginalising communities already at the edge of the society. Under regimes like Orbán's in Hungary, the prospects of energy democracy understood as participatory, pluralistic, and community-driven is not just hindered, but actively undermined. We suggest future energy justice scholarship to systematically engage with how energy projects intersect with far-right and other political economic forms through which democratic backslide is entrenched.