This research by Bradlow is part of a broader intellectual agenda that focuses on transitioning to electric vehicle manufacturing in countries in the Global South that have traditionally produced combustion engine vehicles. Bradlow and Kentikelenis explore the removal of intellectual property rights for vaccines to demonstrate potential opportunities for transferring green technologies.
Bradlow’s fieldwork for this project has primarily taken place in Brazil and South Africa, both of which are leaders in manufacturing internal combustion engine cars and have substantial export industries. Electric vehicles are a key example of the green technologies targeted by current industrial policies in the Global North. The Biden administration in the U.S. has implemented measures such as tariffs and laws like the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act to promote the transition to electric vehicles.
Middle-income countries in the Global South are apprehensive about accessing new global supply chains for green technologies, as the shift to electric vehicles poses a significant challenge to a vital manufacturing sector. Bradlow highlights this dilemma as one of the most crucial and complex aspects of technological change that is influencing the global sociology of climate change.