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Discourse analysis and its utility for urban policy research
Citation
Jacobs, KA, Discourse analysis and its utility for urban policy research, Urban Policy and Research, 24, (1) pp. 39-52. ISSN 0811-1146 (2006) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2006 Editorial Board, Urban policy research
DOI: doi:10.1080/08111140600590817
Abstract
In recent years, discourse analysis has been deployed by academics as a methodology
to understand the urban policy implementation process, in particular, the ways in which key actors
exercise power. Much of the discourse-based research in urban policy has drawn upon the writings
of Norman Fairclough and Michel Foucault and seeks to provide a critical scrutiny of texts and
utterances of policy makers and other key actors. The methodological assumption that informs
discourse-based approaches is that politics is an arena in which different interest groups seek to
establish a particular narrative or version of events as a means to pursue political objectives. This
article begins by setting out the theoretical influences that have informed discourse analysis. There
then follows a discussion of some of the studies that have deployed discourse-based research within
urban policy, an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses as a method and an assessment for new
areas of enquiry. The article’s conclusion is that discourse analysis provides the researcher with a
set of tools to interpret urban policy in a theoretically informed and insightful way. However, there
are some pitfalls associated with its techniques that require consideration before any analysis should
commence.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | discourse analysis, urban, policy, Foucault, Fairclough |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Urban sociology and community studies |
Objective Division: | Indigenous |
Objective Group: | Pacific Peoples community services |
Objective Field: | Pacific Peoples community services not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Jacobs, KA (Professor Keith Jacobs) |
ID Code: | 39392 |
Year Published: | 2006 |
Deposited By: | Sociology and Social Work |
Deposited On: | 2006-08-01 |
Last Modified: | 2013-03-15 |
Downloads: | 15 View Download Statistics |
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