The contentious politics of renewable energy: territorial cleavages in Italy’s ‘green’ transition

In a context marked by multiple crises, the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources has been regarded as the primary solution to climate change. However, the implementation of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure is increasingly contested as market-driven, investor-led and incapable of protecting nature. This article investigates resistance to an industrial wind power plant proposed for a pristine area in the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines. From a theoretical perspective, it bridges social movement studies with political economy and critical debates on the green transition, including perspectives on green extractivism and territorial inequalities. Methodologically, we draw on qualitative research to analyse diagnostic and prognostic frames developed by the opponents of a locally unwanted land use (LULU) project, through which they articulate an environmentalist narrative grounded in biodiversity protection, attention to local characteristics and active citizen participation. We demonstrate that social movements mobilise at the local level around emerging centre-periphery cleavages, denouncing ecological and political marginalisation while promoting community-based alternatives. The article highlights the role of place as a source of collective identity and well-being, and of democratic participation as a condition for a just ecological transition.