A perfect moment during imperfect times: Arctic energy research in a low-carbon era

In the last decade, Arctic energy research has been dominated by a focus on oil and gas exploration, development, and extraction. This is introductory article to an Energy Research & Social Science special issue, entitled "Arctic Energy: Views from the Social Sciences," challenges this approach and offers a broader and more inclusive perspective on Arctic energy research. In reflecting this perspective, some of the articles investigate social, economic, political, and environmental aspects of oil and gas development in the region while offering critiques of such development's processes and initiatives, both of which are usually seen in a positive light. Other articles target non-fossil sources and types of energy, thereby providing a view of the Arctic as a living laboratory for energy services. The special issue's broad and inclusive perspective is also represented by the diverse disciplinary, professional, and ethnic backgrounds of the contributing authors, as well as the range of conceptual and methodological approaches

CONTEXTUAL CONSTRAINTS AND THE RELEVANCE DISCOVERY PROCESS: CHALLENGES FACING KNOWLEDGE GATEKEEPERS IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

The paper explores conceptually the process of relevance discovery prompted by a major alteration in the institutional settings that have caused a radical change in the existing management knowledge paradigm as new mostly “imported” knowledge replaces the “old” knowledge base. This situation puts significant pressure on a particular group of experts designated in the literature as “knowledge gatekeepers”. Their role is particularly important when external information requires contextual interpretation in order to be considered useful by other members of the social group. The paper focuses on recontextualisation as a critical element of relevance discovery and the transformation of “imported” knowledge from irrelevant to relevant and analyses the factors that influence the ability of knowledge gatekeepers to cope with the task of contextualisation. An account of two field studies of post-communist marketisation is used to illustrate the challenges of contextualisation