Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
work and a balance between creativity and rel ection on the part of the
researcher are all elements that make for successful and ef ective discourse
analysis.
Finally, however, a note of caution must be raised in the context of the
pervasive power accounts of the inl uence of discourse discussed above.
These arguably suggest an implicit responsibility for us as analysts to be
aware of our own ontological and epistemological beliefs and understand-
ings. This implies a need to adopt a critical and fundamentally rel exive
approach where we explicitly consider how our own interests may wit-
tingly, or unwittingly, be rel ected in the production of knowledge that
might be inherently perspective-bound (Hastings, 2000; Heller, 2001).
This is of particular importance given the degree of legitimacy af orded
to academic perspectives (Hastings, 2000). The question must always be
asked: would another author analysing the same text reach the same con-
clusions? Discourse analysis carried out in the spirit of such critical and
rel exive enquiry can then fuli l its potential as a heuristically powerful and
potentially emancipatory tool for policy analysis.
Notes
1. For further detailed explorations of this case study see Ockwell and Rydin (2006) and
Ockwell (2008).
2. This euro-anthropocentric interpretation of Aboriginal burning is contested by contem-
porary anthropologists and many Aboriginals - this is outlined further below.
3. See Ockwell and Rydin (2006) for a more in-depth discussion of the dominant pro-
burning policy paradigm in Cape York.
4. See www.i renorth.org.au/nai 2, accessed 19 August 2009.
5. Note: page references in parentheses from hereon refer to the 'Tropics Under Fire'
seminar transcript under analysis.
References
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Bowman, D.M.J.S. (1998), 'Tansley Review No. 101 - The impact of Aboriginal landscape
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Bowman, D.M.J.S. (2000), Australian Rainforests: Islands of Green in a Land of Fire ,
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Chong, D. (1991), Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement , Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press.
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