Just transitions in global economies? Union and worker understandings of justice in Germany and South Africa compared

This article draws on fieldwork in Germany and South Africa, including interviews with unionists, environmental activists, and policy-makers, to compare experiences and perspectives of workers and communities affected by climate policies and the transition to industrial decarbonisation. There is broad support for a just transition in Germany, with workers and their unions actively promoting climate action – though the notion of ‘just transition’ is rarely used. In South Africa, the term ‘just transition’ has become a source of toxic cynicism, mistrust, and anxiety in the energy sector, to the point that unions are actively campaigning to halt or derail the transition. We argue that this divergence is rooted in the externalised sovereign control of just transition in the Global South as opposed to domestic agenda setting in the Global North; in the inherently divisive racial dynamics of post-colonial ‘just’ transitions; and in the absence of a coherent and compelling alternative programme grounded in international solidarity between unions and activists in the South and North.