Whose Deficit Anyway? Institutional Misunderstanding of Fracking-Sceptical Publics

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a relatively new technique used to extract oil or natural gas. It is a highly contested technique, with often-fierce disagreements about its safety and environmental impacts between experts, governments, oil companies, and inhabitants. This case focuses on public resistance to fracking, offering a useful illustration of the limitations of the information deficit model (Section 4.4) and showing that controversies cannot be resolved by assuming that opposing actors suffer from an information deficit that can be rectified by means of better communication and greater public understanding of science