Sense And Sustainability: The Paradoxes That Sustain

Critical discourse analysis and ecology

“…Sustainable development discourses are positive in emphasising that the environment needs to be protected as economies grow, but negative in failing to question whether the economies of countries that are already overconsuming actually do need to grow. There have been numerous studies of ambivalent discourses, including eco-tourism (Purnell 1997), sustainability (Kowalski 2013), greenwash (Alexander 2013), natural resources (Kurz et al 2005), zoos (Milstein 2009), wildlife documentaries (Sealey and Oakley 2013), and environmentalism (Benton-Short 1999).…”

An Ecolinguistic Approach to Critical Discourse Studies

“…Among the many discourses that have been analysed from an ecolinguistic perspective are discourses about: advertising (Hogben 2009, Slater 2007, economics (Stibbe 2005, Halliday 2001, environmentalism (Alexander 2010, Benton and Short 1999, Harré et al 1999, natural resources (Meisner 2007, Kurz et al 2005, energy (Russell et al 2011), animals (Stibbe 2012a, Goatly 2006, Glenn 2004, ecotourism (Milstein 2011(Milstein , 2008, the concept of 'nature' (Knight 2010, Hanson 2006, climate change (Doulton andBrown 2009, Ihlen 2009), and sustainability (Kowalski 2013). Ecolinguistic studies vary in sophistication, comprehensiveness, depth of analysis and motivation, but some general characteristics of an ecolinguistic approach to discourse analysis are described below:…”

A logical response to corporate social responsibility

“…have argued elsewhere (Kowalski, 2013) that many of the problems surrounding Sustainable Development stem from the ambiguity of the term, which was in part a result of trying to please all sides (Meppem and Gill, 1998). This ambiguity is also substantially due to the conflation of the concepts of sustainability and development, which belong to essentially incommensurable worlds, thereby creating an oxymoron (Visvanathan, 1991).…”