Struggling with participation: Citizens moving towards institutionalised tests in wind farm planning

Public engagement is essential for garnering support for wind farms, but research shows that formal hearing processes often fail to involve citizens, spurring local opposition ‘outside’ these processes. In contrast, this article explores how critical citizens remain ‘within’ the formal hearings, searching for critiques that hold legitimacy in this context. Expanding work on participation in French pragmatic sociology, the article uses the test concept to analyse both the critiques presented by citizens during public hearings and the extent to which ‘the planning institution’ recognises these critiques as legitimate. Based on six qualitative case studies in Denmark, the article identifies three pertinent tests that citizens typically conduct during hearing processes for wind farm projects. First, the article examines ‘persuasion tests’, which mobilise numerous strengths to affect the attitudes of local politicians. Next, ‘potentiality tests’, which establish that alternative solutions are more desirable, are considered. Lastly, ‘de-legitimation tests’, repurposing institutionalised test formats to cancel the planned project, are addressed.