| This dissertation focuses on how metaphors are used in the context of a particular policy initiative: the Alberta SuperNet. It is an exploratory case study that traces the development of this project from the perspective of policy planners and citizens over a four-year period (2004--2007) by qualitatively analyzing the use of metaphor in both talk (town hall meetings, focus groups and spokesperson interviews) and texts (the official press releases). The central goal of this work is to promote further dialogue on the roles that metaphors play in policy planning and the acceptance of new technologies by citizens. To do so, it draws on three distinct bodies of literature: political economy of communication, actor-network theory and metaphor. Its key findings include: metaphors are powerful enrolment tools which circumscribe roles for human and non-human actors in official discourse; in the context of planning and acceptance efforts, metaphors simplify, illuminate, problematize and situate policy work; furthermore, metaphors can be used by citizens in unexpected ways, demonstrating points of dissonance in the policy process. Among this research's core contributions are the general framework it provides for empirical investigations of metaphor in policy; its emphasis on the necessity to appreciate metaphor as a linguistic, pragmatic and cognitive phenomenon; as well as its support for the claim that both actor-network theory and political economy of communication can benefit from incorporating metaphor more purposefully into their analytic frameworks. Finally, this investigation offers the following recommendations regarding technology policymaking writ large: the need for careful planning and visioning when introducing technology projects, the importance of clarity around the expected outcomes of an initiative, the significance of flexible and targeted outreach, the centrality of government and community champions, the benefits of under-promising and over-delivering when branding policy via consciously selected metaphors, and the value of early and sustained citizen involvement in technology planning and implementation. |
