Spatial politics of energy conflicts: scale and shape of pipeline and shale gas in Canada

This research paper analyzes the spatial politics of three contested fossil fuel projects in Canada, demonstrating how proponents and opponents strategically manipulate the framing of 'scale' and 'space' to influence perceptions of benefits and impacts.

• Actors involved in energy conflicts strategically construct space and scale to influence perceptions, build alliances, and exclude specific people or issues. Project proponents typically 'scale up' the perceived benefits of a project while 'scaling down' its impacts, whereas opponents employ the opposite strategy, though both parties engage with governance across multiple scales.
• Analyzing spatial politics can expose power dynamics within competing representations of space and highlight biases in legal processes and impact assessments, particularly when the mandates of those processes favor the spatial strategies used by project proponents. This approach can also increase transparency in project evaluations by uncovering the tacit strategies used by proponents.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2021). Spatial politics of energy conflicts: scale and shape of pipeline and shale gas in Canada. https://www.sei.org/publications/spatial-politics-energy-conflicts-scale-shape-pipeline-shale-gas-canada/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Spatial politics of energy conflicts: scale and shape of pipeline and shale gas in Canada. 2021. https://www.sei.org/publications/spatial-politics-energy-conflicts-scale-shape-pipeline-shale-gas-canada/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Spatial politics of energy conflicts: scale and shape of pipeline and shale gas in Canada |date=17 May 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/spatial-politics-energy-conflicts-scale-shape-pipeline-shale-gas-canada/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2021spatial, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Spatial politics of energy conflicts: scale and shape of pipeline and shale gas in Canada}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/spatial-politics-energy-conflicts-scale-shape-pipeline-shale-gas-canada/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }