Sociology of energy: Governance and social practices.

Summary Energy is a social issue, a political issue, and an object of controversy. Over the past fifteen years, it has become a major research topic for sociologists. As the debates around the energy transition become more animated, this book brings together the scientific analyses of researchers from different institutional backgrounds. The objective is to pool, in a single book and for the first time, knowledge and theoretical approaches to the governance of public action and social practices in the field of energy. The book is organized around six parts. The first is devoted to conceptual and theoretical approaches. This part emphasizes the changes in terms of public action, and the reconfigurations that the choice of a low-carbon society implies. The second part deals with the conditions and instruments of governance in energy policy. The third part of the book focuses on the dynamics of innovation, particularly in transitional territories and emerging technologies. The fourth part focuses on uses and users, from a triple point of view, that of the socio-technical conditions of demand management, but also of situations of energy insecurity and the practices of certain actors. The last two parts focus on the support of change through new "smart" technologies.