This paper aims to investigate some of the diverse perceptions of local populations in Sweden regarding wind energy, focusing on the Ockelbo area. Through a critical discourse analytical perspective, the analysis explores the community's attitudes toward their role in wind energy development and analyzes the presence of discursive elements. The study uses mostly interviews and shows that the local community generally supports wind energy. In contrast to many other areas, the Ockelbo area does not seem to have the individual gap of the Nimby attitude, whereby individuals have a positive attitude toward wind energy in general and a negative attitude toward wind energy in their nearby area. Instead, my informants are generally positive toward wind energy both in general and in Ockelbo. Furthermore, I have related my findings to the theory of environmentality, in which the responsibility for the environment is placed on the population rather than the state through knowledge production about the climate. I argue that elements of environmentality are present in the Ockelbo area through a climate IDF (discursive-ideological formation). This climate IDF frames fossil-free energy as a necessary measure against climate change, that the local population should feel responsible for accepting. This perceived responsibility can be attributed to government rationalities of the state. However, my material shows that the local community does not completely accept responsibility for allowing wind energy. Instead, most of my informants seem to discuss how different aspects of wind energy, such as economic compensation for it, conditions their acceptance for wind energy. Therefore, I do not think that the informants – and perhaps the Ockelbo community in general – are fully internalizing the state’s prioritization of wind energy in areas such as that of Ockelbo.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-533502 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Abrahamsson, Filippa |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Uppsatser Kulturgeografiska institutionen |
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