NIMBY in the news: Unpacking the discourses of opposition to new energy facilities in Ontario, Canada
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Date
2016
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AESOP
Abstract
This research explores how not in my backyard (NIMBY) discourses have been enrolled in newspaper coverage of disputes over siting energy generating facilities in the province of Ontario, and examines the implications of using the NIMBY label and concept as a strategy to characterize the response of opponents. While academics have largely abandoned the NIMBY concept as a legitimate explanation for opposition to unwanted developments in favour of alternative socio-structural and individual explanations, the NIMBY term is still a powerful label that is usually condemned by community and environmental groups, but adopted freely by developers, policymakers, and some opinion-makers in the media. We undertake a discourse analysis of articles in Ontario newspapers to explore the contested meanings and implications ascribed to NIMBYism, how its use as a strategy bounds and limits understandings of social opposition to energy siting, and how and why the media interpretations of NIMBY differ so dramatically from those found in the scholarly literature. Finally, we compare our findings to a similar study undertaken by Mannarini, and Roccato (2011) on NIMBYism in the Italian media.
Context. The recent development of gas plants and wind farms in Ontario has elicited more debate about NIMBYism in Ontario’s newspapers than any other types of facilities over the last 30 years. Wind power in particular has met with fierce opposition in the numerous rural communities where projects have been, and are slated to be, developed (Hill & Knot 2010). The cancellation of two gas-fired power plants in two communities in the province has also been widely attributed to NIMBYism in the media. The first facility was cancelled by the government after construction had begun due to local community opposition.
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Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
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