My research asks when and why NGO-led electrification programs catalyze innovation in large-scale, public/private solar energy projects. The empirical focus of my research is an NGO whose success has prompted the Peruvian government to electrify 500,000 homes via solar energy. This demonstrates that small-scale NGO initiatives may be able to spur governments to adopt energy policies that address historical structural inequalities, while progressing towards a global clean energy future. My project offers an ethnography of the policy contact zone between state and non-state actors, both in the capital city and selected rural field sites. A state-society understanding of how energy policy is constructed and negotiated in Perú can generate insights into the politics of clean energy in other developing states.
Advisor: Sunila Kale, Jackson School of International Studies
Product of lasting value: