Greened Dependency and Development: The Political Economy of Energy Transition in Latin America – An Introduction

Would the energy transition mean more of the same for Latin American economies? Classic political economy of development contended that latecomer economic progress was not the outcome of free trade and comparative advantage, that linkages with the domestic economy mattered, and that peripheral capitalism was not doomed to fail. In its possibilist sense, “dependent development” was both diagnosis -of common structural challenges and diverse national paths- and possibility. At the era of global energy transition, we find this overarching perspective of economic development to be still enlightening. The papers collected in this special issue draw on diverse conceptual frameworks within structuralist development theories, especially on renewed concepts of (green) industrial policy and developmentalism, and on a differentiated understanding of the creation of linkages at different scales, a so-called developmental extraction. The contributions analyze development ideas and state action in response to, as well as opportunities and challenges deriving from the energy transition. Analytically, papers cover growth governance, development finance, and industrial policy, which we conceptualize as the main contributing factors to the transition, with case study research focused on new renewable energy and critical mineral policy sectors. Our political economy of peripheral development is interdisciplinary, centered on understanding Latin American varieties of state (in)action in shaping the energy transition economy.