'Transition', a magical and suspicious concept
The concept transition It usually indicates the transition from situation A to situation B within a given time. Normally, A and B are understood to be clearly different, almost like two disjoint sets (without common elements). B replaces A. However, this is often an illusion, especially in the political sphere.
Legitimizing language is often full of "magic" words and "suspect" words. The former are those whose users believe that, simply by uttering them, they already resolve the problem in the right direction, without needing to consider the shadows of their practical applicability. This is the case, for example, with words commonly used in a complimentary manner, such as: consensus, interculturality, inclusion, etc. On the other hand, suspicious words are those whose utterance either shows ignorance of their meaning or leads to erroneous analysis. For example, when someone who barely knows anything about physics says that a situation is quantum or when one trusts in the virtues of the deconstruction.
The concept transition It has the peculiarity of often being used as a word that is both magical and suspicious. Let's see this in two examples: the energy transition and the Spanish political transition of the 1970s.
Energy transitionRecently, analyses have emerged warning of the misuse of this concept, which leads to the belief that the world of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) will be replaced in a few years by "clean" energies: hydroelectric, solar, wind (sometimes including nuclear power). However, this perception is doubly erroneous. First, when we look at the history of technologies, we see that primary energy sources have coexisted and continue to coexist without one replacing the other, in a market that is, moreover, constantly expanding (fossil fuels currently represent around 80%; wood provides twice as much energy as solar and wind2).
Second, there is a strong overlap between the various energy sources. New sources not only do not replace the old ones, but rather overlap and reinforce them. Coal, for example, provided a strong boost to the demand for wood (a previous energy source) and cannot be seen as the energy of the 19th-century "industrial revolution," since its demand has never been higher than at the beginning of the 21st century. Thus, steel, cement, nitrogenous products (fertilizers), and plastics still require coal for their production. Something similar can be said of the emergence of oil and gas in relation to coal. energy transition, In the sense of replacing one primary energy source with another, it simply does not exist. The situation is one of symbiosis, not substitution. (A recent reference, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, Without transition, 2025.)
We must move forward with partial substitutions of energy sources, but there hasn't been, nor will there be, a general transition. The energy transition is a magical and suspicious concept, a reassuring one that serves politicians well in legitimizing the lack or delay of decisions (greenwashing public), not to mention the growing energy demand of a growing world population that includes new middle classes in developing countries seeking greater well-being.
Spanish political transitionSituation A: Franco dictatorship; Situation B: democracy current. It is clear that despite the undeniable change represented by the so-called 1978 regime There are quite a few practical elements of continuity between the dictatorship and the current system. Because these are more widely known, I'll mention only a few. One of the most obvious is the continuity of a judiciary that was unaffected by the Transition. In addition to the poor quality of the Supreme Court's (criminal) judicial decisions, the judges are often reckless about decisions by the legislative and executive branches. Lawfare, prevarication, arbitrariness, abuse of power, authoritarian ideology, impunity, and lack of impartiality contribute to the discredit of the Spanish justice system, both domestically and in Europe and internationally (United Nations). In practice, the current leadership of the judiciary represents an authoritarian tumor within the institutional framework of the 1978 Constitution. It would need to be reformed from top to bottom, especially its leadership, for Spain to be considered a liberal democracy.
Another area inherited and not reformed from Franco's regime is that of the Spanish police and the Civil Guard (spying practices, patriotic police, false reports by politicians). To a large extent, they remain security forces of the old regime. There is also continuity in the styles of corruption, especially in the two main Spanish nationalist parties (PSOE and PP). And a sociological Francoism, very present in some institutions, media, leaders of the Catholic Church and state parties of the right and left.
In short, transition It's a magical and suspicious word. While a general energy transition doesn't exist, since there's no general substitution of energy sources, in the Spanish political transition, areas such as security and justice, which are key to a full democratic life that prevents violations of citizens' rights, freedoms, and the separation of powers, were not replaced.
