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This article analyses the ways through which incumbent actors of the fossil fuel regime respond to socio-economic pressures and actively resist change.
Over the past decade, large-scale coal production and exportation has become an important activity for Colombia’s economy. However, this sector is now facing a range of domestic and international social and economic pressures.
This article seeks to fill what appears to be a shared gap in the energy transition and natural resource governance research fields: the ways through which incumbent actors of the fossil fuel regime respond to socio-economic pressures and actively resist change.
Photo: Fertnig / Getty Images.
Based on a case study on large-scale coal production in Colombia, the authors analyze incumbent actors’ discursive, instrumental and institutional political strategies to maintain the status quo and shed light on their preliminary intended and unexpected results.
This paper finds that although instrumental strategies continue to be important, discursive ones aiming at influencing public narratives have gained increased ground within companies and among government officials. Yet, new contention strategies do not seem to guarantee incumbents’ structural power and paradoxically could hinder their already eroded legitimacy.
Initiative / This SEI initiative creates a platform for high-quality, timely and policy-relevant research and communications on various facets of fossil fuel development.
SEI brief / This policy brief explores what a sudden decline in coal demand could mean for Colombia, and how the country can ensure a smooth transition away from coal.
SEI working paper / Analysis of the political factors that shape subsidies to coal extraction in Colombia, and why and how those subsidies have been promoted.
SEI brief / This discussion brief examines the political economy of large-scale coal production in Colombia and its implications for a transition away from coal.
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