Visual discourse coalitions: visualization and discourse formation in controversies over shale gas development

Attending to the role of visualizations in discourse formations allows for detecting the emergence of particular visual storylines. This article studies the emergence of visual storylines in energy policy, in particular shale gas controversies. The analysis is based on data gathered in three internet regions: the Netherlands, New York State, and South Africa. The analysis studies how visualizations may contribute to confirmation, disintegration, integration, or polarization of discourse coalitions due to similarities or differences between visual and discursive storylines. From the results, we suggest the notion of visual discourse coalitions (VDCs) to contribute to the study of visualizations and discourses in policy controversies. We define a VDC as a network of actors that share a similar discursive storyline and a similar visual storyline of the controversy. The article shows that visualizations and their graphic characteristics add another dimension to the formation of discourse coalitions and the way they develop, connect, or disconnect.