Brief introduction to the sociology of energy

As energy is now a matter of concern on many respects (scarcity, prices, technical innovations, pollution and climate change, national dependency, poverty, security, national and European policy), the author proposes an overview of the ways social sciences address these issues. He discusses the main guidelines of a social science of energy, outlines why and how political and social sciences are interested in energy, proposes an overview analytical tools these disciplines may use to address these issues, and an overview of addressed themes and raised questions. These aspects are addressed by outlining emerging social concerns, by discussing the issue of social acceptability or non-acceptability of energy infrastructures and services, by commenting the behaviour of households in front of services provided by smart grids, by discussing the study of the rationale of action in the field of energy (comfort, economy, ecology, and others), by commenting the relationship between energy-related behaviours and sobriety, by discussing some elements of analysis of energy governance (case of eco-districts, example of the Bonne eco-district in Grenoble, emergence on non conventional governance modes). The author finally proposes an overview of some elements of energy political science in the context of energy transition, notably ways to address energy poverty and energy dependency