TY - JOUR
T1 - An array of deficits
T2 - unpacking NIMBY discourses in wind energy developer's conceptualizations of their local opponents
AU - Burningham, Kate
AU - Barnett, Julie
AU - Walker, Gordon
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - UK energy policy contains ambitious goals for increased deployment of renewable energy technologies (RETs), but concern remains about the potential of local opposition to obstruct proposed developments. Despite emerging academic consensus that characterizing opposition to RET siting as NIMBYism is problematic, the discourse remains strong in popular debate. This article responds to calls for sociological research on both ascriptions of NIMBYism and the use of deficit models. Through an analysis of interviews with key actors in the renewable energy industry, we explore the ways in which a discourse of NIMBYism is evident in their descriptions of local wind farm opponents. We conceptualize this discourse as embodying an array of deficit models of the public and public knowledge. This is significant not only because developers' constructions of publics inform their modes of engagement with them, but also because they may influence public responses themselves.
AB - UK energy policy contains ambitious goals for increased deployment of renewable energy technologies (RETs), but concern remains about the potential of local opposition to obstruct proposed developments. Despite emerging academic consensus that characterizing opposition to RET siting as NIMBYism is problematic, the discourse remains strong in popular debate. This article responds to calls for sociological research on both ascriptions of NIMBYism and the use of deficit models. Through an analysis of interviews with key actors in the renewable energy industry, we explore the ways in which a discourse of NIMBYism is evident in their descriptions of local wind farm opponents. We conceptualize this discourse as embodying an array of deficit models of the public and public knowledge. This is significant not only because developers' constructions of publics inform their modes of engagement with them, but also because they may influence public responses themselves.
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2014.933923
U2 - 10.1080/08941920.2014.933923
DO - 10.1080/08941920.2014.933923
M3 - Article
SN - 0894-1920
VL - 28
SP - 246
EP - 260
JO - Society and Natural Resources
JF - Society and Natural Resources
IS - 3
ER -