To meet the climate targets, wealthy countries like Sweden need to do more than just switch energy sources – they must also reduce their total energy use. In her doctoral thesis, Angelica Wågström has studied two places that already operate with significantly lower energy flows: an ecovillage and an outdoor preschool. There, she examined how reductions in energy use affect people’s everyday lives, particularly how the conditions for care labour change when energy becomes more limited.
What challenges do you focus on in your research?
"There are two main challenges when it comes to reducing energy use. The first concerns justice. Using less energy often means that more human labour is needed to meet the same care needs, and that labour is already carried out primarily by women and marginalised groups. Therefore, energy reduction must not increase the care burden for those who already do most of this labour. The second challenge concerns desirability. Can we imagine a form of politics that promotes reduced energy use and that people are willing to support?"
How do you address the problem?
"Through observations and interviews, I have examined how access to energy shapes care labour, and how social norms, bodily conditions, and socioeconomic factors influence how this labour is experienced and distributed. Using both positive and problematic examples, I show what is required to reduce energy use in a fair way that also feels meaningful and desirable to people. I also highlight societal factors – such as structures of fulltime work and efficiency demands – that currently stand in the way of a more equitable energy transition."
What are the main findings?
"One of the most interesting findings is that using less energy does not necessarily mean worse living conditions. In some cases, energy reduction made everyday life’s care labour feel more meaningful and relational – a way to connect more deeply with both people and nature. It also became clear that engaging in slow, attentive forms of care can spark new desires for low-energy ways of living. At the same time, these positive effects were not shared equally. Social norms and a lack of attention to different bodies’ needs sometimes meant that gender inequality and ableism were reproduced. In the ecovillage, for example, the toilet system was sustainable in energy terms but not designed with menstruation or limited mobility in mind. Once this was pointed out, many of the problems were easily solved – a clear example of why norm-critical perspectives must be an active part of energy reduction."
"For those already carrying large care responsibilities, the increased physical and time demands of low-energy living also clashed with societal expectations of efficiency and full-time work. Overall, the results show that energy reduction can be fair, feasible, and desirable, but only if it takes care labour conditions and diverse care needs into account and is supported by structural changes, not least around working hours."
What do you hope your research will lead to?
"I hope that actors in the energy and climate field will recognise that the climate transition must go hand in hand with investments in care labour. This is not a contradiction – on the contrary, they can strengthen one another. In this way, I want to contribute to a broader understanding of what transition really means, both in research and in policy."
"I also want to reach those who already see that the climate transition is about more than technology. Every energy transition – especially one focused on reducing energy use – must be designed in ways that account for the conditions of care labour and the needs of different bodies. Otherwise, the gender inequalities and ableism embedded in today’s energy systems risk being reproduced in new forms. In my thesis, I show that a more just, careful transition is possible. But it requires conscious effort – including changes to social norms and broader societal structures."
Read the thesis: Careful Energy Transitions: An Ethnography of Degrowth Everyday Utopias
Public defence: 7 November 2025 at 13.15, see link above.