Unpacking green discontent

Socio-economic marginalisation and experiences of misrecognition in the German heating transition

Abstract

This article contributes to debates on green discontent, climate-policy acceptance, and the geography of discontent by showing how experiences of (mis)recognition can turn uneven place-based transition readiness into wider political and emotional discontent in left-behind regions. We develop this argument through the case of Germany's domestic energy transition and the implementation of the Building Energy Act ('Heating Law'), which triggered widespread opposition, particularly in socio-economically marginalised regions of East Germany. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, we combine attitudinal segmentation based on nationally representative survey data (n=2,048) with 33 semi-structured interviews. Our findings show that through processes of misrecognition, climate policies can become vehicles through which long-standing place-based grievances are vindicated and (re)activated. Discontented East German homeowners experienced climate citizenship as contingent on purchasing power, making the transition an acute reminder of uneven development. The implicit assumption of financial readiness was perceived as a misrecognition of lived realities, generating epistemic mistrust. The expectation of financial participation also devalued non-monetary contributions to the transition, vindicating longer-standing experiences of denied social esteem. Finally, the misrecognition of post-unification development trajectories allowed the policy to attach readily to place-based fears of further disruptive transition and decline. Together, these experiences generated emotions of invisibility, disrespect, fear, and betrayal, creating fertile ground for narratives of expropriation, elite hypocrisy, and systemic unfairness. The article highlights the importance of addressing both uneven readiness and uneven acceptance by creating the material conditions for participation while recognising differentiated lived realities, contributions, and histories of marginalisation.