WHEN THE TIME NEVER COMES: TEMPORAL TENSIONS IN MOBILISING AN EMERGING SOLAR ENERGY FIELD
Heli Nissilä, Nina Granqvist & Mari Holopainen
Aalto University
Abstract
Nascent fields are settings where the temporal orientations and rhythms of formerly disconnected communities interact and which lack shared norms for coordination. A major challenge in mobilisation, therefore, lies in reconciling different and potentially conflicting temporalities to enable collective action. Drawing on a qualitative, longitudinal study of solar energy in a Northern country, this study explores the development of temporal tensions among multiple communities. We contribute to the literature on temporality and field mobilisation by showing how communities engage in temporal structuring to alleviate temporal tensions. However, these efforts create only temporary settlements as mobilisation breaks down with temporal tensions resurfacing. We show how failed temporal structuring and asynchronicities in engagement and pace of developments contribute to this outcome. As a result of mobilisation breakdowns, a further source for temporal tensions emerges over a long period. Participating communities begin to hold differing views on the nature of progress within the field – specifically, circularity and stagnation among pioneering communities who carry the burden of repetitive developments, and linearity and progress as a perception of new members lacking long-term exposure to the field. The study explains some core temporal dynamics of mobilisation in nascent fields.