Policy Discourse Analysis Research Articles

Enhancing tourism’s role in alleviating poverty: a bureaucratic approach to implementing SDG1 in China

ABSTRACT By adopting bureaucratic concepts from political science, this study seeks to identify effective strategies within the tourism industry to enhance the implementation of SDG1 in China’s governmental policies. Through a critical discourse analysis of policy documents from two county governments in Western Hunan Province and semi-structured interviews with local cadres, the study proposes a unified dual policy implementation model. This model encompasses two key dimensions: ‘hard’ institutional mobilisation and ‘soft’ relational governance. Furthermore, the study offers insights into a potential pathway for developing countries engaged in tourism-based poverty alleviation, especially those grappling with the challenges of implementation capacity traps.

Can social investment empower social innovation? A comparative discourse analysis of UK and Scottish policy

Can social investment empower social innovation? A comparative discourse analysis of UK and Scottish policy

Medicines as Subjects: A Corpus-Based Study of Subjectification in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Policy

Abstract The concept of subjectification plays a key role in Foucault’s theory of governmentality and has been an important tool for the analysis of policy discourses, for example, in the form of Bacchi’s (2009. Analysing Policy: What’s the Problem Represented to Be? Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia) ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ methodology. In this article, I demonstrate how corpus analysis can complement Bacchi’s methodology to offer a systematic and sophisticated account of subjectification processes in policy discourse, using Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policy as a case in point. I combine Bacchi’s methodology with van Leeuwen’s (2008. Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press) linguistic framework for the analysis of discourse as social praxis, and argue that both Bacchi and van Leeuwen’s methodologies contain an important limitation, which is the assumption that agency is necessarily human. Drawing on anthropological theories of agency, I propose a broader concept of subjectification which includes the process whereby human agency is represented as things. From this perspective, another reading of the results emerges, in which the main subjects are medicines, and the aim of the policy is to save medicines.

Inclusion of people with disability (PWD) in the tourism workforce: a critical discourse analysis of policies and plans

Purpose This paper aims to critically examine the discourse on the disability workforce in Australian tourism policy and planning documents. Design/methodology/approach This research draws on a database of 490 Australian tourism policy and planning documents, across national, state, regional and local levels of governments, destination management organisations and peak industry bodies, to systematically examine the issues pertaining to disability workforce over the ten-year policy cycle (2013–2023), through critical discourse analysis. Findings Analysis revealed 20 of the existing 490 documents had mentions of the inclusion of people with disability (PWD) in the tourism workforce. Through critical discourse analysis, the nuances of political attitudes are evident. Tourism policies tend to exert a cautious approach towards the inclusion of PWD employment. PWD do not have a strong voice when it comes to the formation of tourism policy, especially not as members of the tourism workforce. Practical implications This research underscores an emerging call for the government’s commitment to considering the underrepresented social group of PWD in the tourism workforce. By shedding light on critical discourse analysis of the disability workforce, tourism scholars and practitioners understand the current challenges and explore opportunities to implement tangible actions for an inclusive work environment for all. Originality/value The research is novel and innovative as it critically examines the discourse of the disability workforce in the tourism sector through an institutional theory perspective. The limited emphasis of government policies on the disability workforce may result in missed opportunities to encourage meaningful employment engagement of PWD in tourism organisations. Consequently, this research contributes a tripartite model of policy recommendations that explicitly articulates the mechanisms for change that are tailored to tourism workforce and advocates for the active voices of PWD community in the policy formation process.

Producing the well and skilled body: a critical discourse analysis of health and physical education curriculum policy in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT Background Aotearoa New Zealand is about to embark on a re-write of the official, national, health and physical education curriculum for all primary and secondary schools. This is a significant moment in policy history as the previous most recent curriculum updates occurred in 1999 [Ministry of Education. 1999. Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum] and 2007 [Ministry of Education. 2007. The New Zealand Curriculum]. In the latter rewrite, health and physical education was combined with all other learning areas into one policy document called The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). In light of this imminent shift, we have undertaken a discourse analysis of the current 2007 health and physical education curriculum in order to gain insight into what driving concerns, discourses and pedagogical imperatives were privileged in that document, how we might understand those within their related social and political contexts, and what insights such an analysis might offer this moment of curriculum review. Purpose The purpose of this article is to examine how the dominant discourses of health and physical education curriculum policy in Aotearoa New Zealand construct particular ‘problems’ of the body and young people related to health, physical ability and schooling. To date, no one has undertaken such an analysis of current Aotearoa New Zealand policy in health and physical education. Methodology and analyses Based on Foucauldian concepts of discourse, knowledge/power, and problematisation, we combined Norman Fairclough’s textually oriented discourse analysis and Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ approach to analyse the health and physical education sections of The New Zealand Curriculum. Our analyses involved both a focus on lexical choice – in order to analyse the curriculum policy as text – and critical discourse analysis – to analyse the curriculum policy as discourse. While many commentators (including some of the authors of this article) have lauded the curriculum policy for its socio-cultural orientation, the results of this analysis suggest that Aotearoa New Zealand health and physical education curriculum policy is actually dominated by an orientation to enhance young people’s wellbeing, and surprisingly, this is communicated in the text as directly connected to the production of skilled body. We seek to understand this finding in the context of the positioning of the curriculum policy, as outcomes-focused curriculum policy, and neoliberal discourse. Conclusions The health and physical education sections of The New Zealand Curriculum (MOE 2007) problematises the non-skilled bodies of students and position the development of ‘skilled body’ as a key technique to enhance individual wellbeing. In this context, the emphasis on skills reinforces the notions of success and failure, worthiness and unworthiness. We argued that the writers of the next iteration of the health and physical education curriculum will need to be cognisant of how skills and bodies may be positioned through text, what students should understand, know and do, as well as the dominant ideologies and discourses that shape key concepts. Researchers and policymakers will need to critically examine the complex social, cultural and political contexts that work in this particular policyscape.

Peaceful Coexistence in Compassionate Conservation: A Policy Discourse Analysis

The principle of 'peaceful coexistence' in compassionate conservation emphasizes the need to assess and transform conservation practices to resolve conflicts between humans and animals. Zoos and aquariums, intended to foster connections between people and nature, serve as sites of daily interaction among various stakeholders, such as zookeepers, veterinarians, and ethologists. This research aims to examine how South Korea's Aquarium and Zoo Management Act, along with animal welfare, animal rights, and conservation discourse coalitions, critically evaluate and influence the management of captive animals to promote harmonious human-animal coexistence. Using a policy discourse analysis approach, the study investigates how these discourse coalitions frame policy issues and solutions in South Korean zoo management. By analysing semi-structured interviews, media content, and policy documents, this research identifies the need to emphasize a positive welfare state, leverage the influence of animal welfare discourse coalitions, and build networks and regulations that enforce welfare standards for captive animal management, ultimately realizing the principle of peaceful coexistence.

Foucault, Governmentality and the Performance Management of Academics: A Case Study at a South African University

This article examines the power dynamics underpinning performance management at a selected South African university. It specifically employs Michel Foucault’s (1977) ideas on Governmentality to interpret the envisioning of performance management in this context at the level of Policy. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s (1991) ideas on governmentality, a discourse analysis of Performance Management Policy documents is conducted with the goal of critically interrogating what is unquestionably a new academic subjectivity in the South African higher education sector- a subjectivity that is constantly controlled and regulated. We argue that performance management should take into stronger cognizance the matters of choice, voice, and multiplicity of roles within its discourses. There is much we can learn from governmentality theory if we hope to build more just and equitable societies going forward.

A blueprint for what? From a critical policy discursive analysis of UN’s sustainable development goals to a constructive rearticulation for their application

ABSTRACT Halfway through the UN 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030), the achievement of most of the proposed targets have been lagging behind, as has been confirmed in recent UN and UNESCO reports. While these reports mostly provide external features which cause the delay, this paper analyses and addresses possible features within the UN 2030 Agenda which might explain that shortfall. These include an unflagging belief in economic growth and a lack of an analysis of causes, as well as problems to do with costs and benefits of particular SDGs. Hence, the application of some SDGs might be counterproductive for the environment – and thus for sustainability. This article highlights outcomes of analyses of the Agenda, zooms in on SDG4 on education and presents alternative, more promising avenues concerning the SDGs. The 2030 Agenda and the alternative approaches are interpreted in terms of a shallow ecological (mechanistic) and a deep ecological (organic) worldview. We then propose ways forward for critical policy discourse analysis that may enhance the capacity of the UN 2030 Agenda in the direction of what they are meant to do: global cooperation toward a sustainable rearrangement of human life on earth.

Corrigendum to Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child? A Critical Discourse Analysis of State Corporal Punishment Policies & Practices

Corrigendum to Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child? A Critical Discourse Analysis of State Corporal Punishment Policies & Practices

Critical discourse analysis of North Korea's foreign policy in Kim Jong Un's speech in 2022

The purpose of this article is to explore the discourse on the direction of North Korea's foreign policy under the leadership of Kim Jong Un. This article uses the concept of critical discourse analysis to analyze North Korea's foreign policy through Kim Jong Un's speech in 2022. For data collection, validation and linguistic investigation using the NVivo 12 Plus application. The data sources used are literature reviews through e-books, news, journals and Google Scholar. The results of the data processing show interesting findings, where in his speech in 2022, Kim Jong Un renewed his Law to threaten military action by South Korea and the United States. In addition, make North Korea's nuclear arsenal the most powerful and absolute and the "most powerful strategic weapon in the world". By developing the National Security discourse presented in 2022, the North Korean government can protect the country, people and sovereignty from enemy influence and make North Korea a country with world-recognized military defense. This National Security Discourse then becomes the main focus of Kim's foreign policy instrument in 2022.The purpose of this article is to explore the discourse on the direction of North Korea's foreign policy under the leadership of Kim Jong Un. This article uses the concept of critical discourse analysis to analyze North Korea's foreign policy through Kim Jong Un's speech in 2022. For data collection, validation and linguistic investigation using the NVivo 12 Plus application. The data sources used are literature reviews through e-books, news, journals and Google Scholar. The results of the data processing show interesting findings, where in his speech in 2022, Kim Jong Un renewed his Law to threaten military action by South Korea and the United States. In addition, make North Korea's nuclear arsenal the most powerful and absolute and the "most powerful strategic weapon in the world". By developing the National Security discourse presented in 2022, the North Korean government can protect the country, people and sovereignty from enemy influence and make North Korea a country with world-recognized military defense. This National Security Discourse then becomes the main focus of Kim's foreign policy instrument in 2022.

Integrating refugees through ‘flexible housing’ policy in The Netherlands

The Dutch government recently introduced ‘flexwonen’ (flexible housing) to accommodate refugees, with policymakers encouraging housing suppliers to rent modular houses under temporary contracts. These housing practices, nonetheless, ostensibly conflict with integration policy goals, as integration requires stability. Building on an analysis of policy discourses and interviews with central government and municipal actors, our research adopts a capability-based perspective to assess how policymakers and housing suppliers evaluate housing and integration prospects and securities. Our findings illustrate how national policy discourses emphasise opportunities offered through flexible housing, but also how the actual needs and unique circumstances of those being housed are overlooked. Consequently, local policy actors and housing providers report that they struggle with the implications of uncertain living conditions, with some refugees adapting better than others. This study underscores the importance of considering refugees’ ‘capabilities for integration’ in accommodation policies at all levels of governance.

Performance without legitimacy? Examining the performance-legitimacy dilemma of China’s authoritarian environmentalism model through Hebei’s ‘ban on coal furnace’ project

ABSTRACT Mainstream environmental politics tends to measure the success of a policy through its quantitative environmental performance. Under Xi's rule, China's model of ‘Authoritarian Environmentalism’ is often assessed for its effectiveness; however, the facets of policy legitimacy have largely been overlooked. This research explores the policy legitimacy deficit of China's authoritarian environmentalism by examining the case of ‘Ban on Coal Furnace’ (BCF) project in Hebei province. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and policy discourse analysis, this article suggests that while the BCF project succeeded in environmental performance, both in policy outputs and outcomes, it failed in maintaining policy legitimacy essential for sustaining these policy outcomes over the long term. Integrating the three distinctive aspects of policy outputs, outcomes and legitimacy, this study highlights an inherent Performance-Legitimacy dilemma within China's Authoritarian Environmentalism: on the one hand, the top leader's strong political will is crucial for achieving effective performance. On the other hand, however, policy legitimacy may suffer when local officials adopt an excessively coercive campaign-style implementation approach that overlooks local needs and interests.

Becoming a European prisoner: penal reforms and European belonging in Georgia and Estonia

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades many former Soviet states introduced reforms to the penal systems they inherited from socialist regimes. In most countries of the post-Soviet space, these reforms have been depicted by policy-makers as projects of ‘Europeanization’. This article investigates the discursive construction of penal reform in Georgia and Estonia after these countries gained independence. We examine images and practices of punishment and answer two questions: how are post-Soviet penal reforms framed by policy-makers and experienced by prisoners? How is Europeanization of punishment understood in the post-Soviet space? We conduct an analysis of policy discourse and of narratives of people who witnessed these changes while serving prison sentences. We treat images of ‘Europe’ as a discursively produced ideational structure, and analyze how different understandings of punishment are linked to, or pitted against, ideas of Europeanness. We locate our study within the framework of critical approaches to European integration, and introduce the study of punishment to these debates. We show that punishment is not simply another case study of the relations between a European ‘centre’ and its ‘peripheries’, but argue rather that images and practices of ‘European punishment’ create new social hierarchies and fractures in post-Soviet societies.

Critical policy discourse analysis on the conflict resolution in Thailand’s deep South

This study analyzes discourse on conflict resolutions in Thailand’s Deep South. It is based on the critical concept that discourse defines gazing and codification of problem issues with specified language, signs, and taxonomy. Public policy is dependent on these constructed things leading to problematization, agenda-making, and solutions. National strategies and integrated programs to rectify the problem of the Deep South were designed and implemented by Thailand’s 2014–2019 military junta, but in the process, it confronted dialectical relations between discursive policy and other elements. Based on the empirical research, the article shows that the hegemonic discourse of Thailand’s military junta after 2014 coup led to discourse about the efficient command and control of state administration. The consequent dynamic process of discourse had evolved around this discursive power and formulated the strong public policy statement about integrated program to rectify problems in the Deep South. But local people have different argumentation from the state, which is possible to transform to a new policy problematization and contestation of the hegemony.

European policies for public health in border regions: no European mindset as yet

BackgroundThe sudden emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 demonstrated that Europe was not prepared for a public health crisis like this pandemic. In the European Union, matters of health have remained primarily under the jurisdiction of individual Member States. However, certain events, such as the Kohll-Decker ruling on free mobility of health services and the COVID-19 pandemic, compelled the EU to address health matters in border regions. This study examines how EU policies address public health in border regions. To that end, we have drawn from border studies, a field that provides insight into the fluidity and complexity of borders in everyday life. Besides that we used constructivist policy studies as a lens for the analysis of EU policy documents.MethodsA policy discourse analysis was conducted to explore how European policy addresses the development of a transnational, European public health in border regions. Key European policy documents published between 2002 and 2027 were analysed to understand how policies are constructed and problems are framed. The analysis was guided by research questions and the theoretical approach.ResultsThe analysis reveals that, while having limited competences in the field of health care, the EU is slowly developing a rationale and a knowledge base to increase its competences in health care. It also shows that in the field of public health, the EU argues for addressing health determinants and promoting healthy lifestyles, though it does not address health promotion in border regions. The EU’s authority in public health in border regions revolves primarily around addressing physical, biological and chemical threats rather than social health problems.ConclusionThough the EU has carefully developed a transnational perspective on health care, the EU has not developed any authority with respect to transnational public health. Though public health and health promotion in border regions have been confronted with specific challenges, neither specific Member States nor the EU have a transnational collaborative perspective that does justice to the characteristics of border regions. When it comes to public health in border regions, there is no European mindset as yet.

Impact of governance on resilience in the energy transition. An analysis of China and Germany

As a critical historic juncture of energy transition, energy resilience under the COVID-19 crisis and the Russian-Ukraine war will profoundly influence the energy sector and global climate. The research compared China and Germany as representatives of two modes of energy governance-state-centric and market-centric, respectively-to investigate their ability to maintain resilience amid the recent global turbulences. Policy reviews and discourse analysis of online interviews were conducted to understand the role of governance in three dimensions of resilience. The study found that energy resilience differed between state-centric and market-centric energy governance. The distributed power structure in market-centric governance promotes adaption and transformation, whereas a state-centric structure is more effective in responding to immediate disruptions and implementing larger-scale centralized renewable deployment. As energy policy is an element within and characterized by governance, understanding how governance would affect resilience can help policymakers of the two systems improve resilience and formulate policies that align stakeholders' expectations in the quest for the low-carbon transition.

Law on Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia

In 1991, the Soviet model of higher education in 15 republics of the USSR, with its 5.1 million students and 946 higher education institutions, started 15 independent journeys. All countries within the Soviet heritage, shared the legacies of the single Soviet approach to higher education provision: a centrally planned organization and financing, subordination to multiple sectoral ministries, a national curriculum, a vocational orientation based on the combination of strong basic education and narrow specialized job-related training, a nomenclature of types of higher education institutions, tuition-free study places and guaranteed employment upon graduation combined with mandatory job placement. After 70 years of Soviet legacy, back in 1991 Armenia initiated its independent journey. The Law on Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Republic of Armenia (RA) entered into force on April 14, 1999 and since then has undergone a number of amendments. Back in 2019 a new draft Law on Higher Education and Science was published on the Unified Website for Publication of Legal Acts’ Drafts, inviting public discussions from 03.12.2019 till 18.12.2019. Throughout two decades this was the first time when major and fundamental amendments were foreseen in the existing law on Higher and Postgraduate Education and the Law on Scientific and Scientific-Technical operations; at least this is what has been announced by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (MoESCS). However, the reality is that after long- lasting public discussions, debates and a lot of time spent on final version of the document, on August 2, 2021, the Constitutional Court declared the law “On Higher Education and Science” unconstitutional. This paper aims to analyze the reasons behind the proposed amendments to existing laws and the negative reception of the draft law. Specifically, it focuses on the Draft Law on Higher Education and Science, examining the historical, social, and political factors that may have influenced the agenda-setting process. Additionally, the paper employs a critical policy discourse analysis framework, with a particular emphasis on contextualization, to study the agenda-setting process.

Maintaining the status quo: Constructing institutional citizenship in U.S. higher education policies

Institutional policies and plans play a significant role in the daily life of a college or university. In this paper, we explore the ways that policy texts discursively contribute to constructions of institutional citizenship. Using an example drawn from a policy discourse analysis, we explore how institutions (re)make subjectivities according to the institution’s interests. We describe the differential subjectivities produced by this discourse for historically marginalized and historically centered identities and argue that this difference, perpetuated through official policy and instantiated in different institutional citizen discourses, undermines institutional equity efforts. Ultimately, discourses of institutional citizenship work to maintain inequitable status quos, pointing to the potentially conservative nature of both policy and citizenship.

Discourses of cultural diversity and inclusion in film policy: The case of Flanders (2002–2022)

This article examines how Flemish film policy actors and industry stakeholders have conceptualized, framed and operationalized cultural diversity and inclusion over the past two decades (2002–2022). Drawing on critical discourse and interpretive policy analysis of policy documents and a series of in-depth expert interviews, we investigate how discourses of diversity in cultural policymaking are consistently shaped by (neo-)liberal continuations of deregulation, state neutrality and marketization. This article identifies three discursive shifts over the years, highlighting their complex tensions with the persistent, liberal-egalitarian principle of difference-blind universalism. Framing these tensions as a major obstacle in achieving a paradigmatic policy shift toward the inclusion of ethnic/diasporic minorities in Flemish cinema, we advance a more comprehensive way of understanding why media diversity policies have, so far, proven inadequate.

Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child? A Critical Discourse Analysis of State Corporal Punishment Policies and Practices

Corporal punishment (CP), or inflicting pain through spanking, hitting, and paddling, is still legally sanctioned and exercised in U.S. schools. We use critical discourse analysis and draw on state policy documents and data from the Office of Civil Rights to investigate which discourses pervade policy texts and how CP is practiced. These sources reveal discourses relating to morality, delinquency, and authority that draw on ideas associated with power, punishment, and control. Across all these discourses, we find color-evasive and deficit language to justify CP practices that are disproportionally applied to minoritized students. We conclude with policy implications for CP and school discipline more broadly.