Linking labour regimes and socio-ecological fixes: the low-carbon transition of electricity production in Greece

Abstract

This article examines the reorganisation of capital–labour relations during the transition from coal to renewable energy (RE) by conceptually and empirically linking socio-ecological fixes and labour regimes. Based on mixed-methods research in the main Greek coal region, we unveil the structural conditions and the key agents at play at different scales. The findings reveal a profit-driven and path-dependent logic that drives land grabbing for RE and the exploitation of precarious labour to sustain capital accumulation. The counter-agency of local and regional authorities, unions, and grassroots movements reflects the contested geographical imaginaries that either maintain or challenge the dominant power structures.