From the Global Just Transition to a Just Socioecological Transition in Chile? Trajectories and Technopolitics of Justice

Abstract

This chapter analyses the emergence and relationship between two justice-oriented transition approaches: the Just Transition and the Just Socioecological Transition. In the context of the global socio-environmental crisis, transitions are understood as technopolitical processes shaped by diverse actors, discourses and institutional arrangements. The chapter develops a historical reconstruction of both approaches. For the Just Transition, three global phases are identified: its labour-based origin, its climate reorientation, and its recent heterogenisation. For the Just Socioecological Transition in Chile, four moments are examined: precursor mechanisms, civil society emergence, state-led stabilisation, and future projection. The analysis shows that both approaches share ethical and political concerns, particularly regarding inequality and exclusion. However, they differ in their trajectories, scales of action, and key actors. Drawing on a Science and Technology Studies perspective, the chapter argues that both transitions should be understood as technopolitical assemblages. It concludes that the Just Socioecological Transition is neither a simple national implementation of the Just Transition nor an entirely autonomous development, but a situated configuration shaped by local debates and institutional processes.