Power fluctuations. Energy vulnerability and social resilience in Moldova

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Robert Kindler
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 543294515

With the end of the Soviet Union, specific cultures of energy use also lost significance, though they remained important as frames of reference. "Power fluctuations" became an everyday experience, making the vulnerability of social orders directly tangible. The planned project, with a particular focus on the Republic of Moldova from a comparative perspective, therefore examines the relationship between crisis-ridden energy supply ("energy vulnerability") and strategies of adaptation and coping ("resilience"). The project revolves around three main areas: in addition to the everyday experience of energy insecurity, it addresses the infrastructural dimensions of supply and energy security and the associated social and political conflicts. In the context of the research group “Energy Entanglements” (Energien der Vernetzung), the project will carry out three sub-projects. At the core is, first, an actor-centered social and everyday history of energy in Moldova from the 1980s to the 2000s. Second, the project develops comparative perspectives on experiences of energy vulnerability and resilience in post-Soviet urban spaces. Third, the creation of a publication-oriented collaborative network on post-Soviet energy history is on the agenda. With this work program, the project pursues several central goals: First, the decidedly actor-centered approach opens new perspectives on post-Soviet energy history, placing the logic of action and perceptions of specific groups of actors at the center of analysis. Second, the project examines the relationship between energy poverty and expectations of social order. Third, by focusing on Moldova, the project substantially contributes to the regional grounding of Eastern European-focused Energy Humanities, which is of key importance to the research group. Fourth, closely tied to the other project objectives, a conceptual aim of the project is to apply theoretical approaches such as energy poverty and vulnerability to questions in social and cultural history. Finally, fifth, the project's key findings will be examined from a comparative perspective. The empirical findings based on the example of Moldova will be related to the situation in other post-Soviet states (Kazakhstan and Georgia). Specifically, the project will investigate how phenomena of energy vulnerability are dealt with in urban contexts. Thus, the proposed project sees itself as a contribution to the discussion on social cohesion and expectations regarding the performance of state actors and institutions during times of profound transformation (institutional trust).

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5856: Energy Entanglements. Actors, Spaces and Narratives in Eastern Europe
• International Connection: Moldova
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Igor Casu