People, power and the state : Performativity and the Traveston Crossing Dam Author Hales, Robert Published 2010 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Humanities DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1783 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365617 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au People, power and the state: Performativity and the Traveston Crossing Dam By Robert Hales Supervisors: Associate Professor Michael Meadows Dr Jo-Anne Ferreira The following dissertation is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Griffith University Queensland Australia June 2009 I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which the study was conducted. 2 Abstract This dissertation uses a case study of the recently proposed dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing in South-East Queensland to consider how individuals can become empowered to effect change in the environmental decision-making processes of the state through citizen action in the public sphere. The theoretical framework chosen to guide the analysis is an adaptation of Judith Butler’s theory of performativity (1997) that I refer to as political performativity. I also draw on social movement theory and media theory to examine how the processes of performativity help explain the practices involved in the public sphere actions taken to stop the Queensland Government’s proposed dam. The case study demonstrates that the initial speech acts of the state government’s announcement, and the way in which these were carried out, impacted on the life worlds of people involved. The protesters’ actions were not only symbolic of their struggle but also part of the creation of an alternative life world vastly different to that imposed upon them through the various speech acts of the Queensland Government. Lessons for the future include the development of more conscious strategies for activists in public sphere actions. Potential research resulting from this study includes a closer examination of the relationship between speech acts, emotions and public sphere action. The usefulness of political performativity in understanding emotions, public sphere action and power may better be served through participatory research methodologies. Further research directions are outlined. 3 This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Signed: ________________________________ Date: ___________ 4 Acknowledgments The completion of my research project was made possible by the support of many people. I feel indebted to the participants who gave to my project. They offered their time without question during incredibly stressful periods in their lives. I may not have presented all the stories of participants in this thesis, but all their stories form the basis of my conclusions. I thank them for their contribution. I hope I have given their stories the justice they deserve. My principal supervisor, Associate Professor Michael Meadows, has been like a rock through the whole process. His experience has been invaluable and essential in guiding my sometimes obscure theoretical detours. I thank him for his help through the five and a half year journey. I look forward to reclaiming other parts of the friendship after the PhD. I hope we can spend more time sharing the ends of a rock-climbing rope than staring at future projects on computer screens. To my secondary supervisors, Dr Jo-Anne Ferreira, Dr James Whelan and John Fein, I am grateful for their valuable input into the ideas of this project. The changes in supervision actually added to the learning process and I thank each of them for their careful consideration of my work. Special mention goes to Dr Jackie Kiewa who, in her retirement, edited the early draft of the thesis. I am grateful for her insightful comments and her time she gave to my work. 5 Associate Professor Phillip Payne has had a lasting effect on the way I engage in academic work. He was instrumental in setting the intellectual bar at a challenging but inspirational level during my Masters thesis. Mike Watkins deserves credit. As my initial primary supervisor, he gave invaluable help during the early stages of this project. I thank my wife Wendy. Her loving support was my compass through the labyrinth of my PhD journey. Her contributions to my thesis were considerable, not the least being a patient sounding board to the ideas I developed in the PhD. I cannot thank her enough in these matters and more. My son Jesse showed great understanding about the big book I was writing. He will now relish more time with me to play soccer and ride bikes. I also thank my parents, Jim and Colleen Hales, for instilling an ethic of care and a sense of the world that is greater than oneself. I also thank Jim, a retired agricultural scientist, who gave valuable feedback in the drafting process. 6 Contents ABSTRACT 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5 FIGURES AND TABLES 11 Figures 11 Tables 11 1 INTRODUCTION 12 1.1 Citizens, the Mary River and a problematic public sphere 12 1.2 Research questions 19 1.3 Setting the scene: The construction and destruction of the case for the dam 21 1.4 Theoretical framework: Performativity, the public sphere and the case study 29 1.4.1 Arriving at the theoretical framework 29 1.4.2 Performativity: The first aspect of the theoretical framework 31 1.4.3 The public sphere: The second aspect of the theoretical framework 37 1.5 Research significance 40 1.6 Project outline and scope 42 2 LITERATURE REVIEW: POLITICAL PERFORMATIVITY, COLLECTIVE ACTION AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE 45 2.1 Introduction 45 2.2 Recent developments in collective action and social movement theory 47 2.3 The Emotional Turn in Protest Movement Theory 53 2.4 The primacy of emotions in the life world 63 2.5 Butler’s performativity: Speech acts and resignification 70 2.6 The public sphere and performativity 77 2.7 Critique and development of Butler’s theory of performativity 83 2.8 Political performativity 89 7 2.9 Performativity and media 92 2.10 Application to environmental advocacy education 101 2.11 Chapter Summary 104 3 RESEARCH METHODS 106 3.1 Introduction 106 3.2 Reflexivity, mess and purpose 107 3.3 The single case study approach 113 3.4 Data collection 119 3.5 Political performativity 125 3.6 Themes of political performativity 131 3.7 Interviewer reflexivity and politics 133 3.8 Other methods used to understand collective action 134 3.9 Ethics applied in the study 135 3.10 Chapter summary 136 4 THE POLITICAL PERFORMATIVITY OF DEMOCRACY 138 4.1 Introduction 138 4.2 The initial announcement 141 4.3 The emotional response 160 4.4 The resignification of democracy in 2006 166 4.5 Initial public protests 167 4.6 From letter writing to the internet 172 4.7 The ‘Flotilla of Hope’ – a protest paddle on the Mary River 176 4.8 Protest in Brisbane: The Labor State Conference 2006 182 4.9 Signwriting 184 4.10 Music 190 4.11 The Arts 192 4.12 Public meetings: Peter Beattie and Anna Bligh 197 4.13 Chapter summary 201 8 5 THE POLITICAL PERFORMATIVITY OF CERTAINTY 206 5.1 Introduction 206 5.2 The initial announcement 208 5.3 Project changes: Premier Peter Beattie and Minister Anna Bligh 220 5.4 The inevitability of the proposal 229 5.5 The ‘delay’ of the project 237 5.6 Chapter summary 243 6 THE POLITICAL PERFORMATIVITY OF PUBLIC GOOD 246 6.1 Introduction 246 6.2 Initial announcement: The public good 249 6.3 Glenda Pickersgill 251 6.4 Steve Posselt 262 6.5 Chapter summary 271 7 DISCUSSION 273 7.1 Relationships between the announcements and resistance 273 7.2 Citizen resignification of the announcements as resistance to the dam 277 7.3 The role of resignification in the collective resistance 281 8 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 287 8.1 Overview 287 8.2 Future research 292 8.3 Afterword 294 REFERENCES 298 APPENDIX A 339 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE SAVE THE MARY RIVER CASE STUDY 339 APPENDIX B 342 INFORMATION SHEETS AND CONSENT FORMS 342 APPENDIX C 347 9 ETHICS APPROVAL FROM THE GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY HUMAN RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEE (HREC) 347 APPENDIX D 350 PREMIER VISITS POSSIBLE NEW DAM SITE 350 APPENDIX E 353 RATE OF PROPERTY ACQUISITIONS BY QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT (QWI) 353 APPENDIX F 354 MEDIA SECTION OF TRAVESTONSWAMPINFO.COM INDICATING MOST VIEWED TOPICS 354 10 Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1. The locality of the Traveston Crossing Dam Figure 2. Posts from TravestonSwamp.info forum after the initial announcement by Peter Beattie Figure 3. Bob Brown and Glenda Pickersgill leading the ‘Flotilla of Hope’, 28 May 2008 Figure 4. Online forum posting by local resident after the ‘Flotilla of Hope’ Figure 5. Comments about media portrayal by residents after the Brisbane rally, as posted on the TravestonSwamp.info forum Figure 6. Protesters at the street march to the Labor State Conference in May 2006 Figure 7. Signs posted in the town of Kandanga after Bob Brown visited the proposed dam site Figure 8. Protesters at the 5 July 2006 public meeting Figure 9. The Knit for Mary Scarf: Bob Brown and the climate change rally in October 2008 at Traveston Crossing Figure 10. Posts from media watch in TravestonSwamp.info online forum Figure 11. Post on TravestonSwamp.info site Figure 12.