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.

中文翻译：

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是什么杀死了 HS2？解释英国高铁大型项目失去政治支持的原因

本文以英国被取消的大型交通项目高速二号公路 （HS2） 为题材，分析了该项目被放弃的情况。象征权力的获得和丧失通过不同的主叙事和元叙事来解释。通过确定机制，HS2 暂时成为一个充满象征价值的“空洞能指”，代表着重新平衡英国经济的不同政策愿望。政治演讲和叙事的构建表明了围绕该项目的元叙事如何转变，其象征价值如何消退，以至于该项目象征着失败而不是雄心壮志。因此，当成本上升改变了成本与收益的比率时，这种失败的叙述可用于合法的 HS2 取消。