| In this thesis, I use discourse analysis as a tool for examining four distinct environmental policy debates, as they have been represented in the Vancouver Sun. I examine the Protected Areas Strategy and the Forest Practices Code, which were introduced by the New Democratic Party government (1991--2001). I also examine the Working Forest and the Results-based Forest Practices Code, which were introduced by the Liberal government (2001--present). Drawing on Gramscian and Foucauldian theory, I argue that the network of power/knowledge constructed by the Vancouver Sun limits debate over environmental policy to the hegemonic alternatives of "ecomanagerialism" and "eco-capitalism." This network of power/knowledge is constructed from three major organizational standpoints: government, industry and environmentalists. The voices of First Nations and labour are marginalized from the media construction of reality, as are environmental discourses that present a radical alternative to the ecological and social justice impacts of the "treadmill of production."... |
