The nexus of gendered practices, energy, and space use: A comparative study of middleclass housing in Pakistan and Jordan

Abstract

The nexus of gendered domestic practices, energy and space use remains under-researched in energy studies, particularly in the Global South. This paper takes a gendered practice-theoretical approach to investigate women’s differential energy and space use in domestic practices. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with middleclass homeowners in Lahore, Pakistan and Amman, Jordan show that energy and space use are implicated in the gendering of domestic practices in three ways: 1) contingency of women’s energy consumption on spatial affordances of housing developments in the gendered division of private/public spheres, 2) women as primary performers of domestic energy flexibility and demand management practices and 3) women’s varied and differential agency in their roles as wives, mothers, caregivers, mothers- and daughters-in-law, income-generators, and housemaids. In Lahore, women as household managers negotiate domestic practices under an intermittent electricity supply and power dynamics of extended families and domestic service. In Amman, nuclear family structures and declining servant culture result in women’s greater reliance on energy-intensive technologies, especially for working women. In both contexts, modernist spatial regulations that determine building density and setbacks, height restrictions, spatial layouts and window placement etc. exhibit gender oversights and conflict with socio-cultural norms of privacy and segregation. This has implications for domestic energy demand, with different women having to negotiate between comfort, convenience, and consumption. The study highlights limitations of current gender-neutral and gender-binary approaches in housing and energy and calls for greater socio-cultural understanding of gender relations and intersectional agencies in domestic energy practices for improved equity and sustainability.

Introduction

Despite persisting progress towards sustainable development, gender inequality remains a pervasive form of discrimination in all forms of development [1]. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals underscore that gender equality and women’s empowerment (SDG 5) are inextricably linked to all sustainable energy transition targets that cannot be met without considering women’s energy needs. Yet, significant gender inequalities persist: women are responsible for about three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men [1]. At the same time, they are disproportionately impacted by ‘gender-neutral’ planning and policy [2], [3], limiting their access to energy resources. This inequitable distribution becomes critical for developing countries in the South where just under 60% of economic growth (GDP in PPP), over 80% of population expansion and two-thirds of energy demand growth is predicted to occur by 2040 [4]. This necessitates a gendered lens to energy policy and demand management in energy-consuming practices and technologies for sustainable development.

While much research on gender dynamics in the South has focused on women’s access to energy and technologies in rural areas [1], [5] or low-income settlements [6], [7], limited attention is paid to gendered roles and energy-related practices in urban and middle-income households- both on the rise in developing countries². Moreover in the urban sphere, whilst much focus has been given to women’s economic empowerment and labour force participation [10], [11], [12], less attention is paid to how gendered roles and responsibilities manifest at the intersections of domestic practices, energy and space use. Further, most energy policy is based on techno-economic models of efficiency in which the onus of energy transitions lies with individual ‘consumers’ to make ‘rational choices’ [13], [14]. Such individualised conceptions of energy obscure the socio-culturally embedded nature of energy in everyday routines and practices [15] and overlook its distributional impacts on gender. Hence, this paper uses a gendered practice-theoretical approach to conduct a comparative analysis of domestic energy and space use in middleclass³ housing in Lahore, Pakistan and Amman, Jordan. Through a comparative study, the paper seeks to understand how gender manifests in the access to and use of technologies and spaces of domestic energy practices, such as those of comfort, cleanliness and convenience and how these are evolving under contemporary housing and energy transitions. The remaining paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents a literature review in light of the theoretical frame used. The methodology and selected case-studies are discussed in Section 3. Section 4 presents the study findings and conclusions are given in Section 5.