Civil society coalitions, power relations, and socio-political ideas: Discourse creation and redesigning energy policies and actor networks in Thailand

Abstract

Consideration of language is vital in reframing energy policy as such language is then used in fields such as environment, ecology, sustainability, green economy, and energy security. This study examines the language used to reflect social and political ideas in the deconstruction of power relations between hegemonic and alternative ideas of energy policy. To better understand this critical discourse, Thailand is presented as a case study to examine the various discourses present in the debate of government energy policies from 1987 to 2017, with a particular focus on the following questions: (1) who led and participated in the movements? and (2) how did they determine a strategic discourse that would convey their agenda against the energy policies of different governments? Qualitative discourse analysis was utilized to classify the various themes and the members of the different discourse communities. Digital archives of newspapers were searched for reporting on the backgrounds of these movements; 433 news clippings were found and their utilization of language was analyzed. This article reveals how local community movements and urban middle-class movements legitimized their voice and restructured power relations with the government through the combined ideas of social class, transparency regarding negative impact investigations, energy democracy and justice, and resource nationalism.