Narratives in the Farm Animal Welfare Policy Process

ABSTRACT Traditional boundaries between policy areas are being challenged as farm animal welfare raises controversies. In this article we use data from the consultation process for a new white paper from the Norwegian government, and the theoretical lenses of Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), to describe and analyse the discursive landscape of farm animal welfare in Norway. The article demonstrates how actor coalitions at the intersection of a traditionally exceptionalist agricultural policy and an emerging animal welfare policy narrate the animal welfare discourse differently. These narrative differences also reflect various positions on the issue of change or status quo in the field of farm animal welfare. We identify three narratives: one exceptionalist status‐quo narrative presented by mainstream agricultural sector actors, especially the meat industry; one shallow post‐exceptionalist reformative narrative, presented by a variety of stakeholders, including agricultural cooperatives as well as research and education institutions; and one radical post‐exceptionalist transformative narrative, presented by mainly animal rights organisations. From mainstream actors in the first two narratives, objectives like maintaining food production levels and economic sustainability are seen as more fundamental and sometimes in conflict with introducing new animal welfare measures.