Conspicuous Destruction: Energy Transition in Germany

Egbert, Henrik (2025): Conspicuous Destruction: Energy Transition in Germany.

Abstract

This paper examines whether conspicuous destruction—typically observed in small groups or individuals—can emerge as a behavioral pattern in large, democratic societies. Using Germany’s energy transition as a case study, it explores how politically legitimized decisions lead to the dismantling and devaluation of existing energy infrastructure, including nuclear power plants and fossil fuel systems. This visible devaluation and destruction serve as political and social signals of Germany’s commitment to a green economy. The paper identifies three interrelated motives driving this process: the pursuit of status, the demonstration of power, and the display of economic wealth. These motives, commonly observed in small groups, help explain similar behavioral patterns in national policymaking within the energy sector.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: conspicuous destruction; energy transition; wealth; climate status; Germany
• Subjects: P - Economic Systems > P1 - Capitalist Systems > P17 - Performance and Prospects; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q48 - Government Policy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

References

Ball, S. and Eckel, C. (1998). The economic value of status. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 27(4): 495–514.

Block, S., Emerson, J., Esty, D., de Sherbinin, A., Wendling, Z., et al. (2024). 2024 Environmental Performance Index. Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.

Boas, F. (1920). The social organization of the Kwakiutl. American Anthropologist 22(2): 111–126.

Chipp, K., Kapelianis, D. and Mkhwanazi, P. (2012). Ukukhothana: the curious case of conspicuous consumption and destruction in an emerging economy. In K. Plangger, ed., Thriving in a New World Economy, Springer, pp. 161–163.

Göllinger, T. (2021). Energiewende in Deutschland. Springer Gabler.

Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. and Van den Bergh. B. (2010). Going green to be seen: Status, reputation, and conspicuous conservation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(3): 392–404.

Hitchkok, L. (2014). Conspicuous destruction and the economy of sacrifice in the Bronze and Early Iron Age East. Mediterranean. In B. Houtman, M. Poorthuis, J. Schwartz and J. Turner, eds., The Actuality of Sacrifice: Past and Present, Brill, pp. 7-33.

Howell, S. and Vincent, L. (2014). ‘Licking the snake’: the i’khothane and contemporary township youth identities in South Africa. South African Journal of Sociology 45(2): 60–77.

Human Rights Watch (1992). Conspicuous Destruction: War, Famine and the Reform Process in Mozambique. Human Rights Watch.

Jones, M. (2013). Conspicuous destruction, aspiration and motion in the South African township. Safundi 14(2): 209–224.

Junker, K. (2018). Opferrinnenzeremonie und Potlatch. Ein Testfall der interkulturellen Analyse. Archäologischer Anzeiger 1: 231–254.

Kennedy, E. and Horne, C. (2019). Do green behaviors earn social status? Socius, 5: 1–9.

Lloyd, M. (2015). Death of a swordsman, death of a sword: The killing of swords in the early Iron Age Aegean (ca. 1050 to ca. 690 B.C.E). In G. Lee, H. Whittaker and G. Wrightson, eds., Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 14–31.

Mchunu, K. (2017). Izikhothane youth phenomenon: the Janus face of contemporary culture in South Africa. African Identities 15(2): 132–142.

Mnisi, J. (2015). Burning to consume? Izikhothane in Daveyton as aspirational consumers. Communicatio 41(3): 340–353.

Schmid-Petri, H. and Elschner, S. (2024). Transitionalist, traditionalists or pioneers? How German municipal energy companies are responding to the national transition. Energy Research & Social Science 109: article 103431.

Schumpeter, J. (1942). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Harper & Row.

Strunz, S. (2014). The German energy transition as a regime shift. Ecological Economics, 100(2): 150–158.

Suyemoto, K. (1998). The functions of self-mutilation. Clinical Psychology Review, 18(5): 531–554.

Uren, H., Roberts, L., Dzidic, P. and Leviston, Z. (2021). High-status pro-environmental behaviors: Costly, effortful, and visible. Environment and Behavior, 53(5): 455–484.

Veblen, T. (1899). The Theory of the Leisure Class. MacMillan.

Waal, A. d. (1993). War and famine in Africa. IDS Bulletin, 24: 33–40.