Writing (and) the Environment: Discourse, Deliberation, and Decision Making in Times of Crisis

The struggle for the environment, our perception of environmental crisis and injustice, and our understanding of how and why to act on environmental issues are largely shaped by competing discourses reflecting the interests of diverse social actors. In this CSTW research colloquium, experts on environmental discourse and activism examine these discourses and invite attendees to participate in a discussion of the consequences different discourses, ways of deliberating, and arguing have for our understanding of and action on environmental issues.

Green fingers? Language, power, and struggle in writing for ecological and social justice
Drawing on institutional and political activist ethnography as well as his own involvement in anti-imperialist activism, Aziz Choudry critically examines discourses employed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in this struggle, showing how NGO discourse often remains firmly within “acceptable” parameters of dissent, with NGOs thus operating as Trojan horses for neoliberalism.
Aziz Choudry is Assistant Professor, International Education, in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education, sits on the board of directors of Global Justice Ecology Project (www.globaljusticeecology.org), and is involved with www.bilaterals.org and www.fightingftas.org.

What if environmental problems are really educational problems?
Drawing on three case studies of environmental debate (wind power, land use, water quality), Bill Karis shows how actors in these debates often search for quantitative answers to technical questions – what Bryan Norton (2005) calls the “myth of a correct decision,” ignoring the rhetorical nature of deliberation. The presentation demonstrates the potential of deliberative rhetoric to improve environmental decision making by facilitating the integration of technical knowledge and human values, rendering environmental problems ultimately educational problems.
Bill Karis is Associate Professor and former chair of the Department of Communication and Media at Clarkson University, New York. His primary research interest is in environmental communication, an area in which he has published articles, book chapters, and a co-edited book (with Nancy Coppola) titled Technical Communication, Deliberative Rhetoric, and Environmental Discourse: Connections and Directions (Ablex, 2000).

The social construction of argumentation in organizational discourses: Representations of science in the climate-change debate
Drawing on a case study of the Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the responses to this report by a range of organizations (environmental NGOs, political parties, government agencies, scientific bodies, business corporations, and policy think-tanks), Graham Smart analyzes how these organizations represent science in advancing their arguments regarding the reality and implications of global warming and climate change in their efforts to influence public opinion and government policy.
Graham Smart is Associate Professor in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Carleton University. His research interests include writing in workplace, academic, and public settings, areas in which he has published journal articles, book chapters, and a book titled Writing the Economy: Activity, Genre and Technology in the World of Banking (Equinox, 2007).