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3
waves of such activities have emerged, and some of them with new promises for
the South. In 7 Chap. 6, we discuss a case of the use of tropical forests as carbon
sinks to mitigate climate change with promises of payments from the Global
North. Looking at the history of such new trends, it is interesting to see how some
ways of understanding an issue—or discourses—evolve in parallel to industrial
developments.
The Discourse Concept
We define a discourse as a socially shared perspective of a topic. A discourse may
be likened to a lens through which a topic is viewed. Each discourse is based on
assumptions, arguments and claims about major aspects of an issue. People create
discourses through their written and spoken statements. Within each discourse,
there are statements with similarities of content and often also use of the same
means of expression, such as particular metaphors and ways of relating concrete
examples. Discourses comprise structures that are created, maintained and
changed by people and may be produced by smaller or larger groups of people at
the local, national or even the global level.
Some discourses create essential frameworks for interpreting particular cases.
Such discourses influence policies, laws and practices, and we call them leading
discourses. Actors who are instrumental in creating, altering and communicating
such discourses, exercise discursive power.
In a discourse analysis, we examine statements in order to identify and describe
discourses. When we use discourse analysis in our own research, we always combine it with other types of research. Often this involves examinations of central
claims of leading discourses on an issue. For example, an analysis of discourses on
bioprospecting can be followed by examining key assertions of how bioprospecting
is conducted in practice, and of the consequences the activities have for various
groups of people.
Michel Foucault provided seminal contributions to the notion of discourse,
from which a broad variety of discourse perspectives and analyses have evolved in
the social sciences and the humanities. Through historical studies of topics, such
as of the treatment of insanity and of punishment and incarceration, Foucault
(1979, 1988) showed how government practices in various periods have been linked
to discourses on what is regarded to be meaningful, true and accepted forms of
statements and actions.
Antonio Gramsci provided similar ideas about ways that rulers may get their
perspectives adopted by the citizens (7 Chap. 1). In situations with limited openness for exchanges of ideas, many topics are easily dominated by only one discourse. In democratic countries, we might expect different opinions and the
production of more than one discourse about important topics (but that is not
always the case, as we show in an example in 7 Chap. 6).
On issues of governance of land and natural resources, we often find that two
or a few more discourses have been important in recent times. This chapter shows
Chapter 3 · Discourses and Narratives on Environment and Development: The Example…
3
waves of such activities have emerged, and some of them with new promises for
the South. In 7 Chap. 6, we discuss a case of the use of tropical forests as carbon
sinks to mitigate climate change with promises of payments from the Global
North. Looking at the history of such new trends, it is interesting to see how some
ways of understanding an issue—or discourses—evolve in parallel to industrial
developments.
The Discourse Concept
We define a discourse as a socially shared perspective of a topic. A discourse may
be likened to a lens through which a topic is viewed. Each discourse is based on
assumptions, arguments and claims about major aspects of an issue. People create
discourses through their written and spoken statements. Within each discourse,
there are statements with similarities of content and often also use of the same
means of expression, such as particular metaphors and ways of relating concrete
examples. Discourses comprise structures that are created, maintained and
changed by people and may be produced by smaller or larger groups of people at
the local, national or even the global level.
Some discourses create essential frameworks for interpreting particular cases.
Such discourses influence policies, laws and practices, and we call them leading
discourses. Actors who are instrumental in creating, altering and communicating
such discourses, exercise discursive power.
In a discourse analysis, we examine statements in order to identify and describe
discourses. When we use discourse analysis in our own research, we always combine it with other types of research. Often this involves examinations of central
claims of leading discourses on an issue. For example, an analysis of discourses on
bioprospecting can be followed by examining key assertions of how bioprospecting
is conducted in practice, and of the consequences the activities have for various
groups of people.
Michel Foucault provided seminal contributions to the notion of discourse,
from which a broad variety of discourse perspectives and analyses have evolved in
the social sciences and the humanities. Through historical studies of topics, such
as of the treatment of insanity and of punishment and incarceration, Foucault
(1979, 1988) showed how government practices in various periods have been linked
to discourses on what is regarded to be meaningful, true and accepted forms of
statements and actions.
Antonio Gramsci provided similar ideas about ways that rulers may get their
perspectives adopted by the citizens (7 Chap. 1). In situations with limited openness for exchanges of ideas, many topics are easily dominated by only one discourse. In democratic countries, we might expect different opinions and the
production of more than one discourse about important topics (but that is not
always the case, as we show in an example in 7 Chap. 6).
On issues of governance of land and natural resources, we often find that two
or a few more discourses have been important in recent times. This chapter shows
Chapter 3 · Discourses and Narratives on Environment and Development: The Example…