Title: Protests against German electricity grid extension as a new social movement? A journey into the areas of conflict
Abstract: Among the major players in German energy politics, a broad consensus exists that one important condition for the transition to renewable energies is to expand the electricity transmission grid. More than 7000 km of new or extended power routes are planned, generally as overhead lines. Mainly because of local protests, many projects, however, lag behind their original timetable. The protest initiatives are often supported by concerned municipalities and districts, environmental organizations, and scientists. This paper examines the most conflicted projects and inquires whether the protests are part of a social movement. The study aims for a better understanding of these protests. It therefore explores the opponents’ action orientations and the relevant action fields. The main method is a comparative qualitative case study that is based on a document analysis. The latter was supported by quantitative considerations. Whereas homogeneity in local and regional contexts predominates, across the regions, the protests often strongly diverge in respect to their dominant frames and action orientations. This occurs in a diverse structure of action fields. If the protests are strong and fundamentally oriented, the conflicts take place mainly in state field and discursive arenas. Although the grid extension protests share characteristics with the activities against war, discrimination, and nuclear power use, they are not a social movement in the narrow sense. Rather, they are a collection of single-point protests that occasionally transcend their own boundaries to take on a more coherent and unified character.