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With each type of practice of legitimation below, the intent is to fashion
tools that can deconstruct what acts are being justified and validated (i.e.,
legitimated) by whom, to whom and in what manner. Each type of practice surfaces a specific register along which it evinces accountability relations that display commitment to sustainable outcomes. Within any given
energy sector context, each type of practice is empirically observable to a
sufficient degree to identify specific problem areas, accountability lacunae,
scope for further gains and to challenge claims, and to pose normative
questions of who gets to decide, and who should be consulted or otherwise involved.
2.1
Discursive Legitimation
Discursive legitimation refers to a set of practices that normalise certain
perspectives over others through textual and spoken interventions across a
variety of forums. These forums range from highly technical discussions
among a narrow group of actors to mainstream debates for audiences as
wide as the general public in the pages of national newspapers. Practices of
legitimation manifest in many ways on these platforms: speaking in favour
of one choice over another, thus advocating for something; referring to
some things as commonplace and thereby stabilising them as a public
imaginary; talking down some possibilities as being a threat to other desirable outcomes, thus creating or strengthening cognitive links; repeating
the need for something as a matter of social necessity and thereby building
public support for it; and dismissing some options as wishful thinking
uninformed by reality, thus tightening the discursive space that might
allow their propagation. These practices are all relational in the sense that
they are enacted by actors in relation to audiences, and also because they
position ideas in specific relation to other ideas.
A politician backing continued reliance on fossil fuels may, for instance,
decry renewable energy sources as posing a debt burden on the public. A
federation of solar energy developers may issue a statement against this,
pointing out that they are able to compete with coal thermal plants without any public subsidies. Coal thermal plant owners may lobby national
regulators to maintain the status quo in the energy sector, which has historically rewarded their power source as relatively ‘reliable’. Energy market analysts may point out that this logic has changed, as greater
interconnections between electric grids allow for more flexibility in energy
sources. Those concerned with energy security might contend that more
2 A TYPOLOGY OF PRACTICES OF LEGITIMATION TO CATEGORISE…
With each type of practice of legitimation below, the intent is to fashion
tools that can deconstruct what acts are being justified and validated (i.e.,
legitimated) by whom, to whom and in what manner. Each type of practice surfaces a specific register along which it evinces accountability relations that display commitment to sustainable outcomes. Within any given
energy sector context, each type of practice is empirically observable to a
sufficient degree to identify specific problem areas, accountability lacunae,
scope for further gains and to challenge claims, and to pose normative
questions of who gets to decide, and who should be consulted or otherwise involved.
2.1
Discursive Legitimation
Discursive legitimation refers to a set of practices that normalise certain
perspectives over others through textual and spoken interventions across a
variety of forums. These forums range from highly technical discussions
among a narrow group of actors to mainstream debates for audiences as
wide as the general public in the pages of national newspapers. Practices of
legitimation manifest in many ways on these platforms: speaking in favour
of one choice over another, thus advocating for something; referring to
some things as commonplace and thereby stabilising them as a public
imaginary; talking down some possibilities as being a threat to other desirable outcomes, thus creating or strengthening cognitive links; repeating
the need for something as a matter of social necessity and thereby building
public support for it; and dismissing some options as wishful thinking
uninformed by reality, thus tightening the discursive space that might
allow their propagation. These practices are all relational in the sense that
they are enacted by actors in relation to audiences, and also because they
position ideas in specific relation to other ideas.
A politician backing continued reliance on fossil fuels may, for instance,
decry renewable energy sources as posing a debt burden on the public. A
federation of solar energy developers may issue a statement against this,
pointing out that they are able to compete with coal thermal plants without any public subsidies. Coal thermal plant owners may lobby national
regulators to maintain the status quo in the energy sector, which has historically rewarded their power source as relatively ‘reliable’. Energy market analysts may point out that this logic has changed, as greater
interconnections between electric grids allow for more flexibility in energy
sources. Those concerned with energy security might contend that more
2 A TYPOLOGY OF PRACTICES OF LEGITIMATION TO CATEGORISE…