Activists, scholars, and policymakers worldwide have increasingly recognised the intrinsic linkages between energy transitions and justice issues. However, little research exists on how groups affected by renewable energy siting interpret and mobilise justice narratives to legitimise their actions and question development plans. Building on the notion of 'framing' in social movement theory, this study addresses this gap by examininig the discourses adopted by people resisting wind energy developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. The study relies on 64 interviews and participant observation. The findings indicate that anti-wind activists used health and environmental concerns instrumentally: as a framing device to avoid social rejection and legitimise other, subtler distributive concerns about the uneven allocation of economic benefits such as tenancy payments. Although this framing was counterproductive and left their concerns unaddressed, activists adopted this strategy because of community norms and practises that stigmatise the explicit discussion of economic inequalities and their fear of challenging existing power structures. This paper therefore highlights the social mechanisms through which energy transitions reproduce economic inequalities. As a policy recommendation, it is critical to consider how inequalities are framed and the underlying reasons for these interpretive schemes to advance socially just net-zero scenarios.

中文翻译：

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能源转型是否会造成不平等？墨西哥的权力、社会耻辱和分配正义


世界各地的活动家、学者和政策制定者越来越认识到能源转型与正义问题之间的内在联系。然而，关于受可再生能源选址影响的群体如何解释和动员正义叙事以使他们的行动合法化并质疑发展计划的研究很少。本研究以社会运动理论中的“框架”概念为基础，通过研究墨西哥特万特佩克地峡人们抵制风能开发的言论来解决这一差距。该研究基于 64 次访谈和参与者观察。研究结果表明，反风活动人士巧妙地利用了健康和环境问题：作为避免社会排斥的框架手段，并使其他对经济利益分配不均（例如租赁付款）的更微妙的分配问题合法化。尽管这种框架适得其反，并且没有解决他们的担忧，但活动人士还是采取了这一策略，因为社区规范和做法羞辱了对经济不平等的明确讨论以及他们对挑战现有权力结构的恐惧。因此，本文强调了能源转型再现经济不平等的社会机制。作为一项政策建议，至关重要的是要考虑不平等是如何构成的，以及这些解释方案推动社会公正的净零情景的根本原因。