No justice for all! Green masculinity, extractivism, and global energy transitions

Abstract

This article develops the concept of “green masculinity” as a socio-political order grounded in patriarchal structures that legitimizes car fetishism, large-scale technological control, extractive dominance, and violence against feminized bodies and territories as central strategies of climate action and energy transitions. Through an ecofeminist lens, we examine how these gendered orders shape mobility transitions and their extractive foundations by emphasizing the multi-sitedness of green masculinities across electric vehicle expansion in Germany and nickel mining in Indonesia. We argue that green masculinity sustains car-centered, techno-fix approaches to mobility, foreclosing more fundamental energy transformations and embedding gendered hierarchies within ostensibly sustainable practices. The article highlights how visions of “green” mobility transitions align with ecomodern masculinities and reinforce (re)patriarchalization processes and capitalist power relations across transnational arenas. Finally, we call for re-imagining energy and mobility futures beyond extractivist and patriarchal paradigms, emphasizing feminist energy systems grounded in care, solidarity, interdependence, and justice.