What killed HS2? Explaining the loss of political support for the UK’s high-speed rail megaproject
通过分析英国高铁HS2项目被取消的案例，研究围绕该项目形成的霸权话语如何变化，解释其象征价值流失并最终导致政治支持丧失的过程。
Abstract Through the case of a hegemonic discourse formed around the UK’s cancelled mega-transport project High-Speed Two (HS2), this paper analyses the circumstances of its abandonment. The acquisition and loss of symbolic power are explained through different master and meta narratives. Mechanisms are identified through which HS2 became an ‘empty signifier’ temporarily filled with symbolic value, standing for different policy aspirations to rebalance the UK’s economy. Political speeches and the construction of narratives show how meta narratives around the project shifted and its symbolic value ebbed away to the point the project symbolised failure as opposed to ambition. Thus, when rising costs altered the ratio of costs to benefits, this narrative of failure was available to legitimate HS2’s cancellation.