Journal article
"No Fracking Way!" Documentary Film, Discursive Opportunity, and Local Opposition against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010 to 2013
American sociological review, Vol.80(5), pp.934-959
10/01/2015
DOI: 10.1177/0003122415598534
Abstract
Recent scholarship highlights the importance of public discourse for the mobilization and impact of social movements, but it neglects how cultural products may shift discourse and thereby influence mobilization and political outcomes. This study investigates how activism against hydraulic fracturing (fracking) utilized cultural artifacts to influence public perceptions and effect change. A systematic analysis of Internet search data, social media postings, and newspaper articles allows us to identify how the documentary Gasland reshaped public discourse. We find that Gasland contributed not only to greater online searching about fracking, but also to increased social media chatter and heightened mass media coverage. Local screenings of Gasland contributed to anti-fracking mobilizations, which, in turn, affected the passage of local fracking moratoria in the Marcellus Shale states. These results have implications not only for understanding movement outcomes, but also for theory and research on media, the environment, and energy.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- "No Fracking Way!" Documentary Film, Discursive Opportunity, and Local Opposition against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010 to 2013
- Creators
- Ion Bogdan Vasi - aUniversity of IowaEdward T. Walker - bUniversity of California, Los-AngelesJohn S. Johnson - cHarmony InstituteHui Fen Tan - dCornell University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- American sociological review, Vol.80(5), pp.934-959
- DOI
- 10.1177/0003122415598534
- ISSN
- 0003-1224
- eISSN
- 1939-8271
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 26
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/01/2015
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Management and Entrepreneurship ; Center for Social Science Innovation
- Record Identifier
- 9984306246102771
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