Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
more subtle issues such as the fact that most woodfuel comes from clearing
wood for agriculture or from lopping branches valued for fruit and shade.
From a broader perspective there is not one big problem of energy supply
but many smaller problems of command over trees and their products to
meet a wide range of basic needs. The range of policy solutions is therefore
equally diverse. Why is it then that one policy outcome can emerge and be
sustained in the face of conl icting evidence? Discourse analysis of ers a
valuable approach to answering this question.
Theoretical perspectives on discourse analysis
Just as the term 'discourse' itself is a contested concept used in dif erent
ways, so are there a variety of dif erent perspectives on discourse analysis,
both methodologically and theoretically. One of the key distinctions that
runs through the literature is between those approaches that are derived
from a Foucauldian perspective and those derived from a Habermasian
one. The two methodologies that we explore in this chapter derive from
both sides of this distinction: Maarten Hajer, who developed his frame-
work from an engagement with Foucault's work; and John Dryzek, whose
interest in discourse derives from his earlier work on Habermas and nor-
mative theories of deliberative democracy. These 'middle-range' theorists
are important because they have sought to develop and apply Foucault's
and Habermas's broader ideas to environmental issues and specii cally
to environmental policy. They have done considerable work in qualify-
ing and operationalizing Foucault's and Habermas's theories. In doing
so, they have to some extent modii ed these original theories but retain
the essentials of the Foucauldian and Habermasian perspectives. We will
explore these two approaches next, before demonstrating how they can be
applied to a specii c case study.
Hajer
In the development of the study of discourse Foucault's work has been
pivotal. Through the study of the history of sexuality, madness and the
disciplinary basis of the academy, Foucault, referring to what he called
power/knowledge, developed the idea that knowledge, and hence dis-
course, is a rel ection of power within society. As such, language is seen
as the operation of power (Foucault, 1980, 1984; Bevir, 1999; Rydin,
1999; Hastings, 2000; Watt and Jacobs, 2000). Hajer has sought to work
within a Foucauldian framework, in terms of engaging with the combined
concept of power/knowledge, while adjusting it to the problem of under-
standing environmental policy situations. Hajer's work focuses on the
discursive nature of environmental policy-making (Hajer, 1995; Hajer and
Wagenaar, 2003). Discourse is seen as constituting both text and practice
