Professor Kathryn Hochstetler

Kathy Hochstetler holds long-standing interests in the interdisciplinary study of environment and development. She has researched this theme from many angles - global environmental negotiations, regional trade agreements (Mercosur), and through the study of national environmental movements, environment policy, and democratic institutions, primarily in South America. She has conducted field research in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, South Africa, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Hochstetler’s current research focuses on energy transition and the green economy in the Global South, examining their impact on not just climate change but also broader development models and opportunities. Her latest book, Political Economies of Energy Transition: Wind and Solar Power in Brazil and South Africa, was published in 2021 by Cambridge University Press.
Hochstetler previously held academic positions at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Political Science department of the University of Waterloo (Canada), the University of New Mexico (US), and Colorado State University (US). She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Professor Hochstetler is not available to supervise new PhD students.

Selected Publications

• Hochstetler, Kathryn. 2025. The Green Economy and the Global South – A Commentary. Regulation and Governance 19(2): 515-519.
• Hochstetler, Kathryn. 2025. Green Energy Transitions as Climate Action? In Oxford Handbook of Climate Action, edited by P. Almeida. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Hochstetler, Kathryn. 2025. Energy Transition in Brazil: Overview of Progress and Social Justice Dilemmas. UNRISD.
• Hochstetler, Kathryn. 2021. Political Economies of Energy Transition: Wind and Solar Power in Brazil and South Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Business and Public Policy series.
• Hochstetler, Kathryn. 2021. Climate Institutions in Brazil: Three Decades of Building and Dismantling Climate Capacity. Environmental Politics 30(sup1): 49-70.Tyler, Emily and Kathryn
• Hochstetler. 2021. Climate Institutions in South Africa: Navigating Climate and Equitable Socio-economic Transformation. Environmental Politics 30(sup1): 184-205.

Expertise

Environment and development, Environmental movements, Global environmental negotiations, Development finance, South America, Emerging powers

DV415 Global Environmental Governance 2026-27