Not Just for and Against
Hugh Breakey, Larelle Bossi, Charles Sampford, Michael Mehmet, Jennifer Algie, Freya Croft, Michelle Voyer · 2026
This chapter draws on empirical ‘social listening’ analysis to explore the diverse ethical and epistemic characteristics of those community members contributing to social deliberation on a contested Blue Economy development: a proposed wind farm zone off the coast of the Illawarra in Australia. Drawing data from social media discussions on relevant community groups’ webpages and from public submissions, the chapter describes eight distinct ‘personas’ who each have different ways of approaching the value-laden question of whether, and under what conditions, the wind farms should go ahead. Ethical analysis shows the nuanced nature of these personas and their overlaps with one another. The personas were used to inform two community engagement workshops in the Illawarra, with community members offering their input on the personas and using them to role-play the building of policy proposals for community benefit sharing. The chapter reflects ethically on the workshops and the engagement of the community members with the personas.