Guest Researcher
Prof. Dr. Tomás Ariztía is Professor of Sociology at Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile. His work lies at the intersection of science and technology studies (STS), economic sociology, and environmental sociology, with a focus on the cultural, social, and political dimensions of sustainable energy transitions in Chile and Latin America.
He is Principal Investigator at the Millennium Nucleus on Citizen Technoscience for Socio-Environmental Transformation (CITEC) and Researcher at the Solar Energy Research Center (SERC-Chile), where he investigates the cultural, social, and political dimensions of low-carbon transitions. His recent research has focused on the social lives of clean technologies in Latin America, the socio-material unfolding of energy transitions, and low-tech and grassroots practices and technologies for socio-environmental change. In this context, he coordinates the Catálogo de Tecnologías Locales (www.tecnologiaslocales.cl), a platform that identifies and promotes low technologies for climate and environmental action.
During his stay at IRI THESys, Prof. Ariztía will work on a book project stemming from a four-year ethnographic research initiative examining the social dimensions of green hydrogen development in Chilean Patagonia. The project explores the sociotechnical imaginaries, valuation struggles, and spatial frictions shaping the transformation of Patagonia into a new green resource frontier. Further information on his work can be found at https://socialivesofcleantech.org/.
Research Interests
- Socioecological transformations
- Energy Transitions in Latin America
- Climate action and technological change
- Low Tech and Grassroots innovation for socio-environmental change
