Lynne Chester
Does the Polysemic Nature of Energy Security Make it a &039;Wicked&039; Problem
1274 - 1286
2009
3
6
International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
https://publications.waset.org/pdf/8056
https://publications.waset.org/vol/30
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
Governments around the world are expending
considerable time and resources framing strategies and policies to
deliver energy security. The term &039;energy security&039; has quietly
slipped into the energy lexicon without any meaningful discourse
about its meaning or assumptions. An examination of explicit and
inferred definitions finds that the concept is inherently slippery
because it is polysemic in nature having multiple dimensions and
taking on different specificities depending on the country (or
continent), timeframe or energy source to which it is applied. But
what does this mean for policymakers Can traditional policy
approaches be used to address the problem of energy security or does
its polysemic qualities mean that it should be treated as a &039;wicked&039;
problem To answer this question, the paper assesses energy security
against nine commonly cited characteristics of wicked policy
problems and finds strong evidence of &039;wickedness&039;.
Open Science Index 30, 2009