Environmental Discourse Annual Review of Anthropology (original) (raw)
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2013
My presentation is limited to discuss one specific aspect of the discourse on sustainable development, namely the features of its science-policy interface, focusing on Germany. That I do in three steps: 1. A short introduction of key terms and conditions of social discourse 2. Summary of general characteristics and development of the sustainable development discourse 3. Resuming properties and underlying reasons of the science-policy interface of the discourses on sustainable development A discourse can be defined as "an ensemble of ideas, concepts, and categorisations that are produced, reproduced, and transformed in a particular set of practices and through which meaning is given to physical and social realities" In scientific discourse analysis it is common to distinguish between frames, story lines and a discourse-specific interpretation repertoire. Frames refer to how an issue is defined or problematized. The interpretation repertoire focuses on underlying basic assumptions of a discourse. Story lines refer to the internal linkage of these basic assumptions (Keller et al. 2006, 2010). Different parallel discourses take place simultaneously in modern societies. They can be found in various socio-functional systems including science, politics, or the media. Depending on their corresponding discourse profiles and dynamics, discourses may mutually influence each other (Weingart et al. 2002). Discourse participants compete over the enforcement of specific problem interpretations and lastly struggle for discourse hegemony. The unfolding discourse dynamics in particular depend on (1) the resonance ability of the frames presented among the discourse participants, (2) the plausibility of story lines presented, (3) the possibility to link frames and story lines with prevailing meta narratives which are culturally rooted world views and narratives, (4) the communicability of interpretation repertoires used, (5) the cognitive acceptability of arguments, i.e. their actual trustworthiness, (6) the credibility of the actors presenting the arguments, and (7) the positional acceptability of the contents and goals mediated in discourse, i.e. how far they reinforce or threaten personal/institutional positions (Conrad 2012, Hajer 1995). If and how specific social discourses are adopted and get effective depends on various factors: (1) the (changeable) social relevance of the discourse theme, (2) the pattern of interest of the actors organizing the discourse, (3) the (subsystem-specific) communicative connectiveness of the discourse, and (4) its resonance ability in other social subsystems. This, in turn, is strongly determined by the framings and story lines shaping the discourse.
Global Discourse: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Current Affairs and Applied Contemporary Thought
2013
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Discourses of the global and globalization
To examine the implications of current discourses of the global and globalization is the central purpose of this paper. After introductory comments regarding the role of discourses as political tools, there are presented interrelated discourses about globalization in the economical, political, and cultural realms in order to show how they express and create a particular form of globalization. This globalization, it is argued, proposes the creation of identities and differences based on the consumption of global goods, services and images. Stating that human realization is reaches through the market and failing to re-establish the connection with productive processes, these global narratives de-politicize social understanding.
2009
This article argues that proliferation of prefixes like 'neo' and 'post' that adorn conventional 'isms' have cast a long shadow on the contemporary relevance of traditional political ideologies. Suggesting that there is, indeed, something new about today's political belief systems, the essay draws on the concept of 'social imaginaries' to make sense of the changing nature of the contemporary ideological landscape. The core thesis presented here is that today's ideologies are increasingly translating the rising global imaginary into competing political programs and agendas. But these subjective dynamics of denationalization at the heart of globalization have not yet dispensed with the declining national imaginary. The twenty-first century promises to be an ideational interregnum in which both the global and national stimulate people's deep-seated understandings of community. Suggesting a new classification scheme dividing contemporary polit...
Global Civil Society and the Environmental Discourse
2000
The thesis uses content and discourse analyses to compare 1992 UNCED documents with texts from the parallel Global NGO Forum. The objective is to establish global society influence on the UN process. The thesis naively deploys Gramsci and Habermas to explain the concept and practice of global society. It also follows John Dryzek’s characterization of the global environmental politics and discourse. The thesis was published by the United Nations University (UNU) and Global Environment Information Center (GEIC, now Global Environment Outreach Center) in 2002.
Sustainability as a Rhetorical God Term (published version)
According to Pierre Bourdieu and Loic Wacquant, " cultural imperialism is a form of symbolic violence. " They argue that the current " Newspeak " consists of a new vocabulary cluster consisting of words like " globalization, " " fl exibility, " " governance, " " employability, " " new economy, " and " multiculturalism. " Terms once current in the discourse of the Marxist left – words like " class, " " exploitation, " and " domination " – are conspicuous by their absence. This new language, they say, presents itself as a universal discourse and is transforming the tenants of American capitalism into universal common sense (Bourdieu/Wacquant 2001: 1-3). Their diatribe against globalization and its accompanying discourse turns the spotlight on the political dimensions of linguistic choices, especially on the selection and articulation of powerful terminology.