Politicising UK energy: what 'speaking energy security' can do

This article explores one set of conditions under which a policy area, energy, became politicised. It also explores the relationship between concepts of 'speaking security', which claim that the language of security is politically potent, and notions of (de-) politicisation. It argues that the framing of energy supply as a security issue influenced an opening up of UK energy, which had been subject to processes of depoliticisation since the late 1980s, to greater political interest and deliberation. Speaking security about energy had a high degree of cognitive authority and was instrumental in revealing a lack of policy-making capacity in energy.