scholarly journals The erasure of nature in the discourse of oil production

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenge Chen ◽  
Tom Bartlett ◽  
Huiling Peng

Abstract In this two-part article, we analyse alternative discourses of the environment from the Shell Oil Company and Greenpeace USA and suggest ways in which elements of these antagonistic discourses might be combined in a hybrid, innovative discourse that appeals to a broad section of the public while advocating for more environmentally sustainable practices in industry. In order to develop this model we address concerns with regard to both Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which has been said to focus on the negatives and on deconstructing ‘the discourses we dislike’, and Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA), which has been criticized for cherishing ‘the discourses we like’ without due consideration of their potential for uptake. We argue, therefore, that while each approach has its advantages, taken individually they hamper design and, following Bartlett (2018), we propose an enhanced Positive Discourse Analysis that not only identifies points of fissure in the hegemonic discourse but also seeks points of convergence that can be articulated with in a hybrid, counter-hegemonic discourse that maximizes its potential for uptake while destabilizing the prevailing discourses at precisely the fissure points identified. Part I explores the theoretical grounding for an enhanced PDA, introduces the research method and then, based on the adapted analytic framework of Stibbe (2016), makes an eco-discourse analysis of discourses by Shell Oil Company (SOC), with a focus on their discourse semantic patterns, in an attempt to showcase how hegemonic groups employ discourse strategies to serve their interests and what ecological effects such discourses may produce. In Part II (Chen et al. 2021b), a comparative analysis is conducted on the SOC discourses and the Greenpeace discourses. As well as highlighting the points of antagonism between the two discourses, an attempt is made to seek out points of convergence between progressive positions in the discourses. Part II also explores the potential fissures in the hegemonic order and discusses the design of alternative discourses thereupon. It is argued that an enhanced PDA which focuses on solutions rather than problems and collaboration rather than resistance forms a route for positive and interventionist orientations to discourse that promote social change.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenge Chen ◽  
Tom Bartlett ◽  
Huiling Peng

Abstract This is the second part of a two-part article which proposes an enhanced approach to eco-discourses after weighing the (dis)advantages of mainstream Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA). Part I explored the theoretical grounding for an enhanced PDA, introduced the research method and then, based on the adapted analytic framework of Stibbe (2016), undertook a critical analysis of the discourses of Shell Oil Company (SOC). Part II uses the same analytic framework to analyse Greenpeace USA’s (GPU) discourse and compare it to the SOC discourse. The emphasis in Part II is on the exploration of potential fissures in the discourses across difference, and the possible common grounds upon which to design alternative discourses that are empathetic, comprehensible and legitimate to a coalition of social forces. Practically, Part II finds that the two groups use similar discourse strategies, such as salience and framing, but with different orientations. Methodologically, Part II argues that corpus-aided comparative discourse analysis, with a focus on discourse semantics, will facilitate the identification of ‘greenwashing’ strategies that strengthen and stabilize current hegemonic social order; this part also points to avenues of alternative discourses which exploit the inherent contradictions or fissures within that hegemonic order. Theoretically, the paper suggests that within an enhanced Positive Discourse Analysis approach, it is also important to seek out points of convergence between progressive positions and to articulate these within a hybrid, counter-hegemonic discourse that maximizes its potential for uptake, while it destabilizes the prevailing discourses at precisely the fissure points identified.


2020 ◽  
pp. 095792652097721
Author(s):  
Janaina Negreiros Persson

In this article, we explore how the discourses around gender are evolving at the core of Brazilian politics. Our focus lies on the discourses at the public hearing on the bill 3.492/19, which aimed at including “gender ideology” on the list of heinous crimes. We aim to identify the deputies’ linguistic representation of social actors as pertaining to in- and outgroups. In addition, the article analyzes through Critical Discourse Analysis how the terminology gender is represented in this particular hearing. The analysis shows how some of the conservative parliamentarians give a clearly negative meaning to the term gender, by labeling it “gender ideology” and additionally connecting it with heinous crimes. We propose that the re-signification of “gender ideology,” from rhetorical invention to heinous crime, is not only an attempt to undermine scientific gender studies but also a way for conservative deputies to gain more political power.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veera Kangaspunta

The aim of this article is to approach one specific environmental topic and the public debate around this topic from a user-oriented perspective – through online news comments. The article analyses online news and comments sections from three Finnish online newspapers concerning the mining accident of Talvivaara company in November 2012. Discourse and discursive legitimation strategies are used as analytical tools with the focus of critical discourse analysis. The study aims to solve what kind of discourses the public debate contains and how these discourses are connected to certain legitimation strategies. In addition, the article also continues the conceptual deliberation about the concept of the public as a group of people participating in public discussion. The study shows that Talvivaara news and news comments consist four main strategies, authorization, rationalization, moral evaluations and mythopoiesis, used for legitimation, relegitimation and delegitimation. However, the parties differ in the way they utilize these strategies and different discourses. Consequently, online news commenting appears as a unique part of the public debate about the topic, rather than remaining marginal flaming. The users tend to absorb the role of the public as a part of the public showdown about the shared issue.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-233
Author(s):  
HÉLIO ARTHUR REIS IRIGARAY ◽  
RENATA ANDERSON ◽  
FLÁVIO VELLASQUEZ ◽  
FERNANDO FILARDI

Abstract The objective of this study was to reveal how refugees who live in Brazil perceive the macro-dynamics of the local society and how their response to them varies in accordance with their different psycho demographic profiles. We interviewed 24 refugees from different countries, genders, ages, and races. The interviews were taped, transcribed, and subjected to critical discourse analysis, resulting in three a priori categories: social, discursive, and textual practices. We found out that social practices did differ in terms of their countries of origin, gender, and race. The analysis of their discourses revealed three different places and roles: hero, victim, or faker. Finally, the textual analysis indicated the choice of words that subverted the hegemonic discourse of refugees, revealing resistance to the place refugees are relegated to in Brazilian society.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianka Plüschke-Altof

Despite often being used interchangeably, the dominant equation of the rural with the peripheral is not self-evident. In order to critically scrutinize the discursive node, the aim of this article is twofold. On one hand, it argues for overcoming the prevalent urban‒rural divide and dominant structural approaches in sociological and geographical research by introducing discursive peripheralization as a conceptual framework, which allows the analysis of the discursive (re-)production of socio-spatial inequalities on and between different scales. On the other hand, this article explores how rural areas are constituted as peripheries within a hegemonic discourse naturalizing the ascription of development (non-)potentials. Following a critical discourse analysis approach, this will be illustrated in the case of periphery constructions in Estonian national print media.


2021 ◽  
Vol VI (II) ◽  
pp. 78-84
Author(s):  
Mashhood Anjum ◽  
Iftikhar Baig ◽  
Abdul Hameed

In contemporary and postmodern literary discourses, feminism has introduced a paradigm change in the sex debates. The plan of feminist critical discourse analysis is to explore different discourses from a feminist viewpoint. The planned study conforms to this field of feminist discourse that will attempt to analyze Kamila Shamsie's selected work, Broken Verses. She, being a famous feminist, has produced discourses in which structural and thematic samples absorb sex debates. Her feminist tendency has established clear expression in all the aspects of her works: body, voice and characterization. The current study shows how she has used feminist discourse strategies in conventionality with her feminist literary position. This research extensively improves the perceptive of Kamila Shamsie's work and pictures how the feministic arrangement and feminist critical discourse analysis have been inventively infused in her famous works.


2021 ◽  
pp. 027614672110603
Author(s):  
Michael Beverland ◽  
Pinar Cankurtaran ◽  
Leila Loussaïef

The sharing economy represents a market-driven response to the perceived inefficient resource use arising from materialism, and as such, offers the possibility of a more environmentally sustainable form of consumption. However, the sustainability benefits attributed to the sharing economy remain contentious and fraught with paradox. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of three sharing economy brands (Lime, Rent the Runway and BlaBlaCar) we identify that sustainability discourses compete with claims arising from the espoused benefits of immateriality and platform brands’ desire for rapid growth. We identify and explore three platform brand discourses (disrupting unsustainable leaders, guilt-free choice, and non-commercial appeals) and their associated practices. In doing so we identify that tensions between these discourses and practices give rise to three sustainability-related contradictions: displacement of sustainable alternatives, hidden materiality, and creeping usage. Our findings contribute to our understanding of the sharing economy and its role in sustainability.


Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krešimir Žažar

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to discuss particular features of the public debate around the COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation strategies in Croatian media from the beginning of 2020 to mid-September of the same year. Design/methodology/approach The discussion is theoretically grounded on Luhmann’s concept of moral communication combined with the key assumption of critical discourse analysis that language reflects a position of power of social actors. Based on these premises, the analysis of a sample of articles in a chosen online media was conducted to uncover the moral codes in the public debate concerning the corona outbreak and connect them with specific moral discourses of particular social actors. Findings The findings clearly indicate that the communication about the pandemic is considerably imbued with moralization and that moral coding is profoundly used to generate preferred types of behaviour of citizens and their compliance with the imposed epidemiologic measures. In conclusion, Luhmann’s claim of moralization as a contentious form of communication is confirmed as the examined public discussion fosters confrontations and generates disruptions rather than contributing to a productive dialogue among diverse social actors. Originality/value The novelty of the approach lies in the combination of Luhman’s conceiving of moral communication with critical discourse analysis that, taken together, entails a pertinent research tool for analysing relevant attributes of the ongoing vibrant debate on the coronavirus outbreak.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-136
Author(s):  
Patience Adamu ◽  
Deon Castello ◽  
Wendy Cukier

AbstractMuch of the literature on public space focuses on physical inclusion and exclusion rather than social inclusion or exclusion. In this paper, the implications of this are considered in the context of two monuments, The Volunteers/Les Bénévoles, and The Emigrant, located outside the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. These monuments, while perhaps designed to celebrate Canadian multiculturalism, can be read instead as signaling Canada’s enduring commitment to white supremacy, Eurocentricity and colonization, when viewed through the eyes of racialized immigrants. Thus the “public space” becomes exclusionary. In the context in which the monuments are situated, the racial subtext cannot be ignored. This article purports that images, text and placement, regardless of intention, have significant implications on public space and public demeanor.


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