Reflections on Foucauldian discourse analysis in planning and environmental policy research

Discourse analysis is becoming an increasingly common approach in planning and environmental policy research. This paper asserts that the generic treatment of discourse analysis obscures distinct approaches in which ‘discourses’ can combine different elements of text, systems of thought and action. Textually oriented approaches have been more prevalent during the 1990s, but this paper explores a different approach, grounded in the theory of Michel Foucault, which broadens discourse to embrace social action. Comparing and contrasting two studies that have utilized this approach, the paper suggests that there is considerable room for variation concerning the subjects of study, the institutional scale of analyses, the methods of investigation and process of analysis. Nevertheless, this paper identifies certain core elements of a Foucauldian discourse analytic approach. The paper concludes that this emerging approach to discourse analysis promises considerable insights if applied more widely in planning and environmental research. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Just space or spatial justice? Difference,discourse, and environmental justice

Amidst recent moves to rethink environmental justice, this article cautions against retention of distributive conceptions of injustice. Instead, analysis of production and normalisation of difference is explored as a way to shift the lens of environmental justice scholarship away from distributional explanations of injustice and towards critical engagement with the politics of meaning that structure environmental practice. I argue that such a shift would offer an alternative to the liberal spatial frameworks that articulate understandings of environmental justice and environment society relations, facilitating instead relational conceptions of space and engagement with space as a representational media and medium of power. I also propose that methodologically such a shift would require discursive analysis of practices of difference making. Examples from research into the management of nuclear fuel waste in Canada are used to illustrate the arguments.     

Exploring risk,resistance and the power of myths among coastal fishing communities in Kerala,India

This paper attempts to capture the socially constructed nature of risk by analyzing the discourses embedded in community beliefs, myths and experiential narratives regarding coastal hazards and fishworkers' livelihoods. This paper draws insights from the works of James Scott on power and resistance in the everyday life of marginalized populations. Qualitative data for the study was collected using semi‐structured interview schedules, in‐depth group interviews, oral histories and storytelling across twenty marine fishing villages in Kerala. A significant finding of the study is that the communal discourse of coastal hazards or kolu is an integral part of fishworkers' resistance against formal authority and scientific knowledge systems in coastal management. The myths and beliefs of fishworkers are expressions of their concerns about present forms of development and coastal resource management.     

The interrelation between collective identities and place concepts in local wind energy conflicts

In Germany, plans at the local level to construct wind turbines often find support as well as rejection – often in both cases for ecological reasons. In this paper, we argue that the key to understanding local wind energy debates is to analyse the interrelations between collective identities and concepts of place. Based on the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, we analyse how two completely contradictory place notions have evolved in a local dispute in a small town in Germany, and how existing political identities have been modified, realigned and superseded in the course of the conflict. Furthermore, we show how the involved discourses are characterised by strong continuities with respect to an earlier struggle over an asphalt mixing plant.     

我国历史生物地理学研究的开拓者——文焕然先生诞辰100周年祭

文焕然是开拓历史生物地理学的著名历史地理学家。在历史植物地理方面的贡献主要有：（1）论作发表早于中国历史地理学形成;（2）研究兼及群落与学科分类系统,尤对北方竹林与全国性及研究力量薄弱省级政区的森林分布与变迁有较全面、深入的研究;（3）研究方法兼顾自然科学与人文科学,深入实地考察、调查,订正、补充文献中讹传与疏漏,探讨影响因素并提出建议;（4）具有知难而进、厚积薄发、不断扩展与深化等研究特点。对历史动物地理学的贡献主要有：（1）发表论作较早;（2）主要涉及爬行纲、鸟纲、兽纲中多珍稀物种研究;（3）成果可作为生态环境变化代用指标、古脊椎动物与现代动物及相关学科领域研究参考、森林与竹林分布佐证,历久弥坚,得到国外学者重视。     

近5年旅游研究发展趋势探讨——基于对国家自然、社会科学基金旅游类项目的分析

基于2008-2012年获批的国家自科基金与社科基金旅游类项目,从学科分类、时空分布、研究问题等角度进行统计分析,以期揭示我国近5年旅游研究进展及发展趋势.研究发现,旅游开发、旅游影响、旅游可持续发展研究为两类项目研究重点.     

The constitution of power in Norway's protected areas: on shore and in the sea

This article aims at comparing power resources that opponents to environmental policy apply in shaping and constructing discourses that contest the implementation of marine and terrestrial area protection. Document analyses and qualitative interviews have been undertaken with key actors and documents in two case areas to show how actors, knowledge, and financial and organisational capacities are introduced in the planning processes in order to contest the dominating environmental discourse established by environmental authorities. The results demonstrate how opponents to the terrestrial case were rather fragmented, consisting of a wide range of local and regional actors with various interests and agendas, and without substantial financial and organisational strength. Here, the environmental administration managed to create a partnership with local authorities that eventually proclaimed the national park as a win–win situation for local society. As a contrast, the opponents to the marine case had strong organisational, financial and even scientific capacities that were effectively unified with local authorities in the Skjerstad fjord. Here, the win–win situation was not accepted by the local parties. Together, these resources seemed to explain some of the variance in institutional responses in environmental administration, and finally different outcomes of the two cases.     

学术期刊编辑工作现代化势在必行

随着科学技术的日新月异和计算机应用的广泛普及,学术期刊编辑工作应用计算机已势在必行。学术期刊编辑工作现代化,就是将编辑出版过程中的手工操作变成由计算机控制的信息处理。     

节约型社会提出的现实背景、理论前提及其法律内涵

通过对节约型社会提出的现实背景的阐述,认为节约型社会的理论前提和基础有生态政治理论、环境资源承载能力理论、资源生态经济理论、资源生态化和环境资源化理论等。并对节约型社会的目标、节约型社会的理念、基本原则等进行了探讨。最后在以上分析的基础上对节约型社会的法律内涵进行界定。认为节约型社会在第一层面的涵义是以供定需的发展战略和资源禀赋导向型的发展规划;第二层面的内涵是资源生态承载能力范围内的经济发展道路选择;第三层面的内涵是对自然资源进入社会经济生产的全过程进行规划和调控。     

Academic publishing in disaster risk reduction: past,present, and future

Nowadays there are approximately 80 Anglophone journals that deal primarily with disaster risk reduction (DRR) and allied fields. This large array signals a sustained, if uneven, growth in DRR scholarship but also competition between the offerings of different publishers and institutions. The purpose of this article is first to summarise the development of academic publishing on DRR from its early beginnings to the present day. The paper then evaluates the current state of publishing in this field and discusses possible future trends. Next, it identifies some possible opportunities, challenges, expectations, and commitments for journal editors both within DRR and academia more broadly, including those that refer to changes in the use of terminology, the relentless increase in the number of papers submitted, the expansion and dangers of predatory journals, different peer review models, open access versus paywalls, citations and bibliography metrics, academic social networks, and copyright and distribution issues.