Energy politics in the public sphere: Frames, values, and symbolic power

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between energy policy and values that appears in social movement mobilizations with respect to energy in the United States. As the social movement mobilizations include persons and groups located in disadvantaged or subordinate positions of the social structure, the analysis of social movements and values can bring out the linkages between structural inequality and values. Three policy fields are discussed: net metering, smart meters, and green economic development. Both challengers and incumbents link their strategic frames to broader cultural values to gain credibility in the public sphere. Both types of coalitions generally reference a similar group of widely shared values that are associated with institutional logics, but they engage in different strategies to make credible the linkages between their positions and the general values and to question the linkages posed by the frames of opponents. The study maps out the broad value categories that appear in the framing contests, develops a typology of counterframing strategies, and explores cross-cultural applicability and limitations.