The Social Network Analysis to Study Discourse …
129
80% of electronic data is in a text format.” This huge amount of data, covering
almost every area of human endeavor, is not only unstructured or semi-structured,
but it also contains usable, useless, scientific, and trade-specific data [4]. In particular
understand the discourse of actors and how to influence policies, and analyses of such
debates can improve our understanding of which interests are enhanced or neglected,
of what value-based arguments, for example, for and against biofuels expansion are
dominant and therefore, the likely social distribution of costs and benefits in the
implementation of policies [5].
Network analysis techniques can be appropriate with large datasets and become
more robust when used to not only describe but also interpret [41]. The study of
networks is largely interdisciplinary and has developed in many fields of human
knowledge, including mathematics, physics, computer and information sciences,
biology and social sciences. Network analysis has long been used as a method to
examine relational data and has recently emerged as an important tool in policy
analyse and governance studies [26, 34, 49]. Among the main areas in which
social network analysis has been applied are to investigate of corporate power and
interlocking directorships, and community structures [41]. In this chapter, we use
social network analysis to examine the actor discourses related to water-energyfood (WEF) nexus relationship applied to the Brazilian context. This analysis can
contribute to nexus studies due to its ability to represent the interconnectivity between
different sectors such as water–energy–food nexus. The remainder of this chapter is
structured as follows. In Sect. 2, we describe the methods that have been published
in the literature to assess the WEF nexus. In Sect. 3, we explain the social network
analysis method. Then, in Sect. 4, we present the practical application of the method
to the case of discourses on the WEF nexus of biofuels nexus in Brazil. Finally, in
Sect. 5, we offer the conclusions.
2 The Nexus Methods
Nexus-related research concerns two contrasting aspects of a given negotiation in
relation to the interdependencies among resources. The first are the trade-offs, which
can be understood as solutions from one sector that have consequences for other
sectors. The second is related to synergies, that is, situations that generate positive
exchanges on another sectors. According to Kurian et al. [26], although the analysis
of trade-offs has the potential to reveal priorities in a governance process and to
inform the norms of equity defined locally in the interventions, understanding the
synergies can determine the progress in ensuring a balance and mitigating possible
reverse effects in planning and environmental management. The negotiation process
mainly concerns intersectorality, as it is an attempt to “break down the silos” [3].
This can be understood as a search for opening up of the specialization boxes [48].
In other words, the nexus approach considers multi-level, intersectoral, and possible
transdisciplinary decision-making processes to be essential to move forward toward
sustainable scenarios.
129
80% of electronic data is in a text format.” This huge amount of data, covering
almost every area of human endeavor, is not only unstructured or semi-structured,
but it also contains usable, useless, scientific, and trade-specific data [4]. In particular
understand the discourse of actors and how to influence policies, and analyses of such
debates can improve our understanding of which interests are enhanced or neglected,
of what value-based arguments, for example, for and against biofuels expansion are
dominant and therefore, the likely social distribution of costs and benefits in the
implementation of policies [5].
Network analysis techniques can be appropriate with large datasets and become
more robust when used to not only describe but also interpret [41]. The study of
networks is largely interdisciplinary and has developed in many fields of human
knowledge, including mathematics, physics, computer and information sciences,
biology and social sciences. Network analysis has long been used as a method to
examine relational data and has recently emerged as an important tool in policy
analyse and governance studies [26, 34, 49]. Among the main areas in which
social network analysis has been applied are to investigate of corporate power and
interlocking directorships, and community structures [41]. In this chapter, we use
social network analysis to examine the actor discourses related to water-energyfood (WEF) nexus relationship applied to the Brazilian context. This analysis can
contribute to nexus studies due to its ability to represent the interconnectivity between
different sectors such as water–energy–food nexus. The remainder of this chapter is
structured as follows. In Sect. 2, we describe the methods that have been published
in the literature to assess the WEF nexus. In Sect. 3, we explain the social network
analysis method. Then, in Sect. 4, we present the practical application of the method
to the case of discourses on the WEF nexus of biofuels nexus in Brazil. Finally, in
Sect. 5, we offer the conclusions.
2 The Nexus Methods
Nexus-related research concerns two contrasting aspects of a given negotiation in
relation to the interdependencies among resources. The first are the trade-offs, which
can be understood as solutions from one sector that have consequences for other
sectors. The second is related to synergies, that is, situations that generate positive
exchanges on another sectors. According to Kurian et al. [26], although the analysis
of trade-offs has the potential to reveal priorities in a governance process and to
inform the norms of equity defined locally in the interventions, understanding the
synergies can determine the progress in ensuring a balance and mitigating possible
reverse effects in planning and environmental management. The negotiation process
mainly concerns intersectorality, as it is an attempt to “break down the silos” [3].
This can be understood as a search for opening up of the specialization boxes [48].
In other words, the nexus approach considers multi-level, intersectoral, and possible
transdisciplinary decision-making processes to be essential to move forward toward
sustainable scenarios.