Power, Narrative, and Fossil Fuels: Meaning-Making and the Co-Optation of Workers’ Struggle

Abstract

Discursive power operates through narrative to shape subjective perceptions of meaningful work within capitalist societies, where work as employment is required for survival. This article theorises the relationship between labour alienation and the adoption of narratives that create meaning while rationalising and defending the class structure. It presents an empirical example of how discursive power interacts with the material and structural realities of fossil fuel workers in the formation of extractive subjectivities. We asked workers from two of North America's most prominent regions of historical fossil fuel extraction—northern Alberta, Canada, and West Texas, United States—to narrate their experiences and perspectives. Drawing on their words, we explore the resonance between workers’ accounts of alienation, the rationalisations they articulate, and the narratives circulated by fossil fuel capital. Our findings have implications for those working toward more just and ecological societies within the polarised contexts of energy and climate.