Turbulent Times: Contested Futures - Battery Value Chains and the Spatial Politics of Green Transitions

We live in a turbulent world – paradoxically, we also seem to have decreasing capacity to deal with this turbulence. Climate change is rapidly shifting from a problem we can solve to a more chaotic era of consequences. Global coordinated action to mitigate and adapt seems less and less likely. How can we chart out a sustainable course amid this turbulence? The Turbulent Times seminar series is a space for us to take stock of the times that we are in. What spatial and temporal relations shape our ability to live and act in a meaningful way? What institutional capacities are needed? And how might we need to recalibrate research to make sense of it all? 

Seminar 1: Contested Futures - Battery Value Chains and the Spatial Politics of Green Transitions

Speaker: Huiwen Gong, Associate Professor, University of Stavanger

As global cooperation falters and climate urgency intensifies, value chains once hailed for their efficiency now reveal deep vulnerabilities. This talk focuses on the battery sector as a prism through which to understand broader tensions between sustainability ambitions and geopolitical realities. Drawing from research across multiple national contexts, I examine how regional actors—governments, firms, and communities—engage in “futuring” practices to remain relevant in a disintegrating global economy. These practices not only reflect hopes for green transformation but also betray anxieties over technological dependence, market access, and territorial control. In rethinking the spatial politics of transition, I ask how we might better grasp the entangled futures of regions/countries, industries, and planetary systems.

Coffee and tea will be available.