Oil as the villain? How the Kazakhstani media unsuccessfully framed a pipeline leak at the giant Kashagan oil field

IF 6.9 2区 经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Julia Schwab
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Abstract

The Kashagan oil field in the Kazakhstani section of the Caspian Sea is among the largest hydrocarbon development projects in the world and of immense importance for the Kazakhstani economy. It is however infamous for its decade-long delays and massive cost overruns, putting into question the legitimacy of the Kazakhstani leadership's economic development model which is based on the exploitation of the country's hydrocarbon wealth.

Recognising the importance of political media framing strategies in authoritarian contexts, this article applies topic modelling and traditional qualitative framing analysis to understand Kazakhstani media narratives around the 2013 pipeline leak at the Kashagan which ultimately delayed commercial production until 2016. Drawing on the analysis of 13,335 Russian-language Kazakhstani media and political texts, I identify two distinct framing strategies: Firstly, the official media used three consecutive framings – (1) silence, (2) blaming the Kashagan oil, and (3) emphasising the positive impact of the regime's extractivist development model in partnership with International Oil Companies (IOCs). Secondly, independent media outlets pointed towards the political-economic entanglement of members of the domestic elite and IOCs in the pipeline leak.

Despite its immense scale, the Kashagan oil field has been overlooked in the social science energy literature. By tracing how specific material qualities of the Kashagan oil have been exploited as a tool in the political leadership's discourse, this study adds to scholarship on the political relevance of energy materiality, ultimately stating that while oil has inherent characteristics that influence discursive political strategies, these qualities do not determine political outcomes.

石油是恶棍?哈萨克斯坦媒体如何诬陷卡沙干巨型油田输油管泄漏事件未遂
里海哈萨克斯坦段的卡沙干油田是世界上最大的油气开发项目之一,对哈萨克斯坦的经济极为重要。本文认识到政治媒体框架策略在专制背景下的重要性,运用主题建模和传统定性框架分析来理解哈萨克斯坦媒体围绕 2013 年卡沙干油田管道泄漏事件的叙事,该事件最终将商业生产推迟至 2016 年。通过对 13335 篇哈萨克斯坦俄语媒体和政治文本的分析,我发现了两种截然不同的框架策略:首先,官方媒体连续使用了三种框架--(1)沉默,(2)指责卡沙干石油,(3)强调政权与国际石油公司(IOC)合作的采掘发展模式的积极影响。其次,独立媒体指出了国内精英和国际石油公司成员在输油管泄漏事件中的政治经济纠葛。尽管卡沙干油田规模巨大,但在社会科学能源文献中却一直被忽视。本研究通过追溯卡沙干油田的特定物质特质是如何被用作政治领导层的话语工具的,为能源物质性的政治相关性的学术研究增添了新的内容,并最终指出,虽然石油具有影响政治话语策略的固有特征,但这些特质并不决定政治结果。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Energy Research & Social Science
Energy Research & Social Science ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES-
CiteScore
14.00
自引率
16.40%
发文量
441
审稿时长
55 days
期刊介绍: Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. ERSS covers a range of topics revolving around the intersection of energy technologies, fuels, and resources on one side and social processes and influences - including communities of energy users, people affected by energy production, social institutions, customs, traditions, behaviors, and policies - on the other. Put another way, ERSS investigates the social system surrounding energy technology and hardware. ERSS is relevant for energy practitioners, researchers interested in the social aspects of energy production or use, and policymakers. Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) provides an interdisciplinary forum to discuss how social and technical issues related to energy production and consumption interact. Energy production, distribution, and consumption all have both technical and human components, and the latter involves the human causes and consequences of energy-related activities and processes as well as social structures that shape how people interact with energy systems. Energy analysis, therefore, needs to look beyond the dimensions of technology and economics to include these social and human elements.
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