Helene Ahlborg
Biographic Data
| ID | 1573071 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helene Ahlborg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helene |
| FAMILY NAME | Ahlborg |
| SIGNATURE | AHLBORG H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Chalmers University of Technology |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6506-6751 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 141 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Rural electrification as multi-sectoral coevolution: The geography of electricity and dairy sector development in Rwanda
Research on multisectoral interactions is gaining attention for its potential to address global challenges, including climate change, food security, and energy access. These dynamics are especially relevant in sub-Saharan Africa, where expanding energy access is a key policy goal. This study contributes to the literature on sectoral coevolution with a case from a novel geographical and sectoral context. Drawing on economic geography and energy an…
Repoliticising users in energy transitions: A critique of dominant ideas and their effect in policy and practice
Energy studies as a field is, due to its strong grounding in engineering and economics, overall dominated by reductive ideas around the role of people in energy systems. In particular, the diversity and agency of local level energy users is commonly overlooked and poorly understood, with consequences for energy transition policy and practice. This conceptual review brings together critiques of simplistic and idealised portrayals of energy users, …
Conceptualising energy geographies in East Africa: A research agenda for exploring spatial dimensions of renewable energy transitions
Conceptual review of the spatiality of energy transitions in East Africa. • Builds on Energy Geography framework to understand energy transitions. • Explores locations, landscapes, territoriality and energy sector change. • Despite plural pathways and overlapping territories, there is a multi-level lock-in. • Proposes a research agenda on energy geographies in East Africa. This study contributes to the understanding of the spatiality of energy tr…
Technological power, complex systems, and boundary objects in global energy transitions
This study makes a case for why the field of political ecology (PE) would benefit from deep engagement with technological power, and exemplifies this within the domain of energy studies and the ongoing transformation of the energy sector. Technology is not among the core interests or traditional topics of PE—and is therefore often disregarded or treated as a black box. The argument presented in this study asserts that this omission undermines the…
We don't have time”: How imaginaries of urgent energy system change marginalise locally driven pathways
In this empirical study we examine the characteristics of energy systems change for Rwanda envisioned by actors seeking to drive transitions who are based both within and outside the country. We rely on empirical data from interviews ( N = 62) and observations. We focus on electricity and cooking services as domains which actors including the Rwandan government are seeking to transform. Our study proposes two sociotechnical imaginaries of change.…
Agency, directionality, location and the geographic situatedness of knowledge making: The politics of framing in innovation research on energy
In this conceptual review, we use the concept of “framing” to explore how scholars work with innovation. Using a thematically and geographically diverse sample of 88 articles, we focus on sustainability transitions as research domain, energy as sector and literature review as method. Framings of innovation differ by themes such as agency, directionality and location, as well as onto-epistemological categories such as envisioned academic contribut…
A global super-grid: Sociotechnical drivers and barriers
Inclusiveness by design? Reviewing sustainable electricity access and entrepreneurship from a gender perspective
There is a substantial literature analysing the role of electricity as a catalyst for economic development. However, there are significant knowledge gaps in whether such systems are or can indeed be designed in a gender sensitive way to promote equal opportunity for socially inclusive entrepreneurship at the local level. We make three main contributions with this paper. First, we carry out a literature review to unpack the gender-electricity-entr…
Powering institutions for development—Organizational strategies for decentralized electricity provision
The study addresses the question of how to achieve and sustain well-functioning local service delivery in institutionally difficult contexts, characterised by low levels of generalised trust, widespread corruption and poor institutions. We study a relatively successful case of decentralized electrification in Tanzania, and the process whereby an international NGO establishes a small-scale hydropower system with a local utility to own and operate …
Three electricity futures: Monitoring the emergence of alternative system architectures
Changing energy geographies: The political effects of a small-scale electrification project
This article contributes theoretically and empirically to our understanding about how a transition to 'modern and sustainable energy for all' may reconfigure the life of citizens who live 'outside the grid' in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. My inquiry is inspired by the question posed by James Ferguson and Tania Murray Li: what do development schemes do? I analyse a renewable energy pilot project in Tanzania that was implemented by an N…
Theorizing power in political ecology: The 'Where' of Power in Resource Governance Projects
Power and politics have been central topics from the early days of Political Ecology. There are different and sometimes conflicting conceptualizations of power in this field that portray power alternatively as a resource, personal attribute or relation. The aim of this article is to contribute to theorizations of power by probing contesting views regarding its role in societal change and by presenting a specific conceptualization of power, one wh…
Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: Electricity as a common pool resource
Towards a conceptualization of power in energy transitions
The field of sustainability transitions has recently benefitted from efforts by multiple scholars at better conceptualizing power and politics, and integrating insights from other fields. This article argues for an understanding of power as relational, productive, contingent and situated. I conceptualize power to the aim of understanding and explaining how and where power relations become de/stabilized in energy transitions in poor rural communit…
Small-scale hydropower in Africa: Socio-technical designs for renewable energy in Tanzanian villages
In this article, we explore the process of economic change following the NGO-led implementation of a small-scale off-grid hydropower system in Tanzania. We examine how the implementing actor deals with economic challenges and local ownership in order to achieve sustainable electricity supply. The qualitative case study shows that the NGO, ACRA-CCS, has overcome a number of constraints, which are sometimes associated with donor funding. This has b…
Mismatch Between Scales of Knowledge in Nepalese Forestry: Epistemology, Power, and Policy Implications
Ahlborg, H., and A. J. Nightingale. 2012. Mismatch between scales of knowledge in Nepalese forestry: epistemology, power, and policy implications. Ecology and Society 17(4): 16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05171-170416
Towards a conceptualization of power in energy transitions
The field of sustainability transitions has recently benefitted from efforts by multiple scholars at better conceptualizing power and politics, and integrating insights from other fields. This article argues for an understanding of power as relational, productive, contingent and situated. I conceptualize power to the aim of understanding and explaining how and where power relations become de/stabilized in energy transitions in poor rural communit…
Changing energy geographies: The political effects of a small-scale electrification project
This article contributes theoretically and empirically to our understanding about how a transition to 'modern and sustainable energy for all' may reconfigure the life of citizens who live 'outside the grid' in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. My inquiry is inspired by the question posed by James Ferguson and Tania Murray Li: what do development schemes do? I analyse a renewable energy pilot project in Tanzania that was implemented by an N…
Small-scale hydropower in Africa: Socio-technical designs for renewable energy in Tanzanian villages
In this article, we explore the process of economic change following the NGO-led implementation of a small-scale off-grid hydropower system in Tanzania. We examine how the implementing actor deals with economic challenges and local ownership in order to achieve sustainable electricity supply. The qualitative case study shows that the NGO, ACRA-CCS, has overcome a number of constraints, which are sometimes associated with donor funding. This has b…
Theorizing power in political ecology: The 'Where' of Power in Resource Governance Projects
Power and politics have been central topics from the early days of Political Ecology. There are different and sometimes conflicting conceptualizations of power in this field that portray power alternatively as a resource, personal attribute or relation. The aim of this article is to contribute to theorizations of power by probing contesting views regarding its role in societal change and by presenting a specific conceptualization of power, one wh…
Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: Electricity as a common pool resource
Mismatch Between Scales of Knowledge in Nepalese Forestry: Epistemology, Power, and Policy Implications
Ahlborg, H., and A. J. Nightingale. 2012. Mismatch between scales of knowledge in Nepalese forestry: epistemology, power, and policy implications. Ecology and Society 17(4): 16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05171-170416
Inclusiveness by design? Reviewing sustainable electricity access and entrepreneurship from a gender perspective
There is a substantial literature analysing the role of electricity as a catalyst for economic development. However, there are significant knowledge gaps in whether such systems are or can indeed be designed in a gender sensitive way to promote equal opportunity for socially inclusive entrepreneurship at the local level. We make three main contributions with this paper. First, we carry out a literature review to unpack the gender-electricity-entr…
Three electricity futures: Monitoring the emergence of alternative system architectures
Powering institutions for development—Organizational strategies for decentralized electricity provision
The study addresses the question of how to achieve and sustain well-functioning local service delivery in institutionally difficult contexts, characterised by low levels of generalised trust, widespread corruption and poor institutions. We study a relatively successful case of decentralized electrification in Tanzania, and the process whereby an international NGO establishes a small-scale hydropower system with a local utility to own and operate …
Mismatch Between Scales of Knowledge in Nepalese Forestry: Epistemology, Power, and Policy Implications
Ahlborg, H., and A. J. Nightingale. 2012. Mismatch between scales of knowledge in Nepalese forestry: epistemology, power, and policy implications. Ecology and Society 17(4): 16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05171-170416
Small-scale hydropower in Africa: Socio-technical designs for renewable energy in Tanzanian villages
In this article, we explore the process of economic change following the NGO-led implementation of a small-scale off-grid hydropower system in Tanzania. We examine how the implementing actor deals with economic challenges and local ownership in order to achieve sustainable electricity supply. The qualitative case study shows that the NGO, ACRA-CCS, has overcome a number of constraints, which are sometimes associated with donor funding. This has b…
Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: Electricity as a common pool resource
Towards a conceptualization of power in energy transitions
The field of sustainability transitions has recently benefitted from efforts by multiple scholars at better conceptualizing power and politics, and integrating insights from other fields. This article argues for an understanding of power as relational, productive, contingent and situated. I conceptualize power to the aim of understanding and explaining how and where power relations become de/stabilized in energy transitions in poor rural communit…
Powering institutions for development—Organizational strategies for decentralized electricity provision
The study addresses the question of how to achieve and sustain well-functioning local service delivery in institutionally difficult contexts, characterised by low levels of generalised trust, widespread corruption and poor institutions. We study a relatively successful case of decentralized electrification in Tanzania, and the process whereby an international NGO establishes a small-scale hydropower system with a local utility to own and operate …
Three electricity futures: Monitoring the emergence of alternative system architectures
Changing energy geographies: The political effects of a small-scale electrification project
This article contributes theoretically and empirically to our understanding about how a transition to 'modern and sustainable energy for all' may reconfigure the life of citizens who live 'outside the grid' in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. My inquiry is inspired by the question posed by James Ferguson and Tania Murray Li: what do development schemes do? I analyse a renewable energy pilot project in Tanzania that was implemented by an N…
Theorizing power in political ecology: The 'Where' of Power in Resource Governance Projects
Power and politics have been central topics from the early days of Political Ecology. There are different and sometimes conflicting conceptualizations of power in this field that portray power alternatively as a resource, personal attribute or relation. The aim of this article is to contribute to theorizations of power by probing contesting views regarding its role in societal change and by presenting a specific conceptualization of power, one wh…
Inclusiveness by design? Reviewing sustainable electricity access and entrepreneurship from a gender perspective
There is a substantial literature analysing the role of electricity as a catalyst for economic development. However, there are significant knowledge gaps in whether such systems are or can indeed be designed in a gender sensitive way to promote equal opportunity for socially inclusive entrepreneurship at the local level. We make three main contributions with this paper. First, we carry out a literature review to unpack the gender-electricity-entr…
A global super-grid: Sociotechnical drivers and barriers
Agency, directionality, location and the geographic situatedness of knowledge making: The politics of framing in innovation research on energy
In this conceptual review, we use the concept of “framing” to explore how scholars work with innovation. Using a thematically and geographically diverse sample of 88 articles, we focus on sustainability transitions as research domain, energy as sector and literature review as method. Framings of innovation differ by themes such as agency, directionality and location, as well as onto-epistemological categories such as envisioned academic contribut…
Technological power, complex systems, and boundary objects in global energy transitions
This study makes a case for why the field of political ecology (PE) would benefit from deep engagement with technological power, and exemplifies this within the domain of energy studies and the ongoing transformation of the energy sector. Technology is not among the core interests or traditional topics of PE—and is therefore often disregarded or treated as a black box. The argument presented in this study asserts that this omission undermines the…
We don't have time”: How imaginaries of urgent energy system change marginalise locally driven pathways
In this empirical study we examine the characteristics of energy systems change for Rwanda envisioned by actors seeking to drive transitions who are based both within and outside the country. We rely on empirical data from interviews ( N = 62) and observations. We focus on electricity and cooking services as domains which actors including the Rwandan government are seeking to transform. Our study proposes two sociotechnical imaginaries of change.…
Conceptualising energy geographies in East Africa: A research agenda for exploring spatial dimensions of renewable energy transitions
Conceptual review of the spatiality of energy transitions in East Africa. • Builds on Energy Geography framework to understand energy transitions. • Explores locations, landscapes, territoriality and energy sector change. • Despite plural pathways and overlapping territories, there is a multi-level lock-in. • Proposes a research agenda on energy geographies in East Africa. This study contributes to the understanding of the spatiality of energy tr…
Rural electrification as multi-sectoral coevolution: The geography of electricity and dairy sector development in Rwanda
Research on multisectoral interactions is gaining attention for its potential to address global challenges, including climate change, food security, and energy access. These dynamics are especially relevant in sub-Saharan Africa, where expanding energy access is a key policy goal. This study contributes to the literature on sectoral coevolution with a case from a novel geographical and sectoral context. Drawing on economic geography and energy an…
Repoliticising users in energy transitions: A critique of dominant ideas and their effect in policy and practice
Energy studies as a field is, due to its strong grounding in engineering and economics, overall dominated by reductive ideas around the role of people in energy systems. In particular, the diversity and agency of local level energy users is commonly overlooked and poorly understood, with consequences for energy transition policy and practice. This conceptual review brings together critiques of simplistic and idealised portrayals of energy users, …
Economics (9 works) · Energy and Environment Impacts (9 works) · Electricity (8 works) · Engineering (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Geography (6 works) · Physics (5 works)