Shifts in Environmental Policy Making Discourses: the Management of the St Lucia Estuary Mouth
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SHIFTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY MAKING DISCOURSES: THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ST LUCIA ESTUARY MOUTH by GAIL J. COPLEY Submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the Masters Degree Social Science in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban South Africa March 2009 ii DECLARATION Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Science, in the Graduate Programme in Geography, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. All citations, references and borrowed ideas have been duly acknowledged. It is being submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. None of the present work has been submitted previously, for any degree or examination in any other University. Student name Date iii ABSTRACT Global shifts in environmental decision-making from technocratic, top-down models to democratic, open-ended forums to address environmental issues have highlighted the complexity of environmental issues. As a result, the definition of these environmental problems in the political arena is highly contested and thus the process of formalising environmental discourses through environmental policy-making has become very important. Hajer’s (1995; 2003) argumentative discourse analysis approach is used as a methodology to examine environmental policy-making regarding the St Lucia estuary mouth, in KwaZulu-Natal. This is also used to structure the presentation of the analysis particularly according to the terms of the policy discourses, such as the broad societal discourses, the local discourses and and the storylines. The environmental discourses are characterised using Dryzek’s (1997: 8) taxonomy of environmental discourses, based on his broad definition of discourse as “a shared way of apprehending the world”. This research aims to identify the environmental discourses that emerged in the 1940 to 2005 period regarding the management of the St Lucia estuary mouth and the shifts in discourses that have taken place during this time. An analysis of the shifts in environmental discourses in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park over a 65 year period revealed two significant events that punctuated the management discourses of the protected area and effectively divided the analysis into three succinct periods. These two events were the Kriel Commission of Enquiry in 1966 and Cyclone Demoina in 1984. The promethean, ecological modernisation and survivalist discourses were dominant throughout the three periods analysed. The evidence also shows that there has been a shift from modernist engineering discourse to a more ecosystem discourse which advocates that ‘let nature take its own way’. Science remains a dominant force in shaping environmental policy-making in St Lucia; however environmental problems have become discursive in the post-apartheid period in a democratic South Africa and thus require a discourse that has wider stakeholder representation. iv LIST OF CONTENTS Declaration............................................................................................................ ii Abstract................................................................................................................. iii List of contents...................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ....................................................................................................... viii List of Tables......................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction........................................................................................... 1 .............................................................................................................. 1.2. Aim and objectives................................................................................ 4 1.3. Structure of the thesis ............................................................................ 4 Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework....................................................................................... 6 2.1. Introduction........................................................................................... 6 2.2. The Construction of Environmental Problems........................................ 6 2.2.1. Theoretical context................................................................. 6 2.2.2. Environmental and cultural politics ........................................ 8 2.2.3. Discourse ............................................................................... 11 2.2.3.1. The Dominant Discourse: Hegemonies........................ 13 2.2.3.2. The Oppositional Discourse: Counter-hegemonies...... 15 2.3. Environmental Policy and Science......................................................... 16 2.3.1. Environmental Policy Formation and Regulation.................... 16 2.3.2. The Role of Science in Policy................................................. 18 2.4. Discourse analysis theory....................................................................... 20 2.4.1. Argumentative Discourse Analysis ........................................ 21 2.4.2. Elements of Argumentative Discourse Analysis..................... 22 2.5. Environmental Discourses ..................................................................... 28 2.5.1. Dominant environmental discourses....................................... 28 2.5.1.1. Promethean (economic growth) discourse ................... 28 2.5.1.2. Ecological modernisation discourse............................. 30 2.5.1.3. Administrative managerialism discourse ..................... 32 2.5.2. Alternative Discourses........................................................... 33 2.5.2.1. Survivalist discourse ................................................... 33 2.5.2.2. Economic rationalism discourse .................................. 35 2.5.2.3. Green romanticism discourse ...................................... 37 2.5.2.4. Green rationalism discourse ........................................ 38 2.5.2.5. Wise-use discourse...................................................... 40 2.6. Conclusion............................................................................................. 42 v Chapter 3 Background.......................................................................................................... 43 3.1. Introduction........................................................................................... 43 3.2. An overview of the development of relevant national environmental legislation.............................................................................................. 44 3.2.1. National Environmental Management Act, 100 of 1998......... 46 3.2.2. Marine Living Resources Act, 18 of 1998.............................. 46 3.2.3. World Heritage Convention Act, 49 of 1999.......................... 47 3.3. Historical overview of nature conservation institutions in KwaZulu-Natal ..................................................................................... 47 3.4. Study area.............................................................................................. 51 3.4.1. Historical establishment – St Lucia Game Reserve................. 51 3.4.2. Current – The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park ........................ 52 3.4.3. The St Lucia Estuary Mouth .................................................. 57 3.4.3.1. Factors influencing the St Lucia estuary mouth and early management history ..................................... 57 3.4.3.2. Management of the St Lucia estuary mouth................. 62 3.5. Conclusion............................................................................................. 64 Chapter 4 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 66 4.1. Introduction........................................................................................... 66 4.2. Data Collection...................................................................................... 67 4.2.1. Data description..................................................................... 68 4.2.2. Data sampling........................................................................ 69 4.2.3. Sources of documentary data................................................. 71 4.3. Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 73 4.3.1. Framework for process of analysis......................................... 73 4.3.2. Argumentative Discourse Analysis........................................ 74 4.4. Limitations of the study......................................................................... 77 4.5. Conclusion............................................................................................. 79 Chapter 5 Discourse Analysis of Management Policies at the St Lucia Estuary Mouth: 1940 - 1966.............................................................................................. 80 5.1. Introduction..........................................................................................