Who Framed the Forest Fire? State Framing and Peasant Counter-Framing of Anthropogenic Forest Fires in Spain Since 1940

Abstract

Anthropogenic fires in forested areas are a globally relevant environmental issue characterized by a high degree of uncertainty in terms of their ecological impact. States the world over have, for the most part, attempted to grapple with them by developing costly forest fire suppression policies. This study examines the implementation and impact of one such policy, anti-forest fire media campaigns in Spain, through a framing effects theory approach. Historically, Spain has been Europe's most anthropogenic forest fire-prone country. A majority of Spain's forest fires are provoked intentionally by the peasantry, a homogeneous social group that seems to be immune to the Spanish state's framing of forest fires in its media campaigns as an ‘enemy’ that needs to be eradicated. This fact contrasts with framing effects theory's prediction that counter-framing by subordinate social groups is most likely to result from conversations carried out between members of heterogeneous rather than homogeneous social groups. In addition, this study contends that anthropogenic forest fire lighting by peasants in Spain constitute a ritual form of political resistance based on symbolic communication. This explanation further calls into question the framing theory's methodological reliance on verbal and written forms of communication to unveil counter framing activities.