The Anatomy of an Environmental Decision: A Discourse Analysis of Events and Processes Linked to the Grounding of the MV Rena

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aut.embargoNoen_NZ
aut.thirdpc.containsNoen_NZ
dc.contributor.advisorNelson, Frances
dc.contributor.advisorWatts, Jennie
dc.contributor.authorGalbraith, Philippa Janne
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-11T00:43:34Z
dc.date.available2020-06-11T00:43:34Z
dc.date.copyright2020
dc.date.issued2020
dc.date.updated2020-06-10T02:55:35Z
dc.description.abstractThis research is concerned with the social construction of nature and the environment in connection with the case study of a man-made environmental disaster which occurred off the coast of the Bay of Plenty of New Zealand in 2011: the grounding of the MV Rena. The problem I explore relates to the clash of worldviews embodied in the contested discourses of the resource consent hearing to abandon the wreck of the Rena on Astrolabe Reef, also known as Ōtāiti. The objective of the research is to examine people’s stories and submissions on the resource consent process as discourses that influence the way people think about the environment and environmental justice in twenty-first century Aotearoa New Zealand. Two research questions guide this research. The first concerns the way in which different discourses related to the grounding were made manifest throughout the processes of the Resource Management Act 1991. The second deals with the dominance of certain discourses within the context of the resource consent hearing, and what this means in terms of social change for affected communities and environments. To this end, the research draws on theories of environmental and social justice, deliberative democracy, procedural inclusion and the special forms of psycho-social trauma experienced by communities, particularly indigenous communities, in the wake of environmental disaster. In terms of the development of the thesis, the concept of ‘nature’ as a social construction is considered along with a chronological review of Western ideas about nature and their evolution throughout history to modern times. Then, the issue of the Rena is introduced by way of thematic analysis of interview data. Analysis focuses on the discourses of the hearing, and I adopt a critical approach in unpacking and explicating the effects of the grounding on the beliefs and worldviews of those closely associated with the affected environments, the MV Rena and processes of impact assessment. Data comprised materials from the online archives of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council together with interviews conducted with key participants. Dryzek’s (2013) framework for categorising environmental discourses is used to organise the data according to different worldviews. Specific methods of critical discourse analysis are applied to selected documents as a means of revealing the intertextuality of arguments and the rhetorical, grammatical devices and persuasive techniques employed by discursive agents to position themselves and their arguments in relation to others within the wider discourse of the hearing. The identification of themes within the interviews complemented and strengthened this approach. Significant findings in this research coincide with international research that shows indigenous communities experience environmental trauma and injustice in ways that are much more profound and socially corrosive than for mainstream communities, and that this is compounded by the historical, ongoing and wider environmental injustices of post-colonial, white settler societies. It shows that under the hierarchy of the Resource Management Act 1991, biophysical considerations take precedence over socio-cultural, and highlights the concept of environmental personhood as a means by which enviro-social-cultural considerations might find atonement within decision-making procedures.en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/13385
dc.language.isoenen_NZ
dc.publisherAuckland University of Technology
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccess
dc.subjectSocial impact assessmenten_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental justiceen_NZ
dc.subjectThematic analysisen_NZ
dc.subjectImpact assessmenten_NZ
dc.subjectMV Renaen_NZ
dc.subjectRena disasteren_NZ
dc.subjectMaritime disasteren_NZ
dc.subjectNew Zealanden_NZ
dc.subjectWorldviewen_NZ
dc.subjectWorldview analysisen_NZ
dc.subjectWestern scienceen_NZ
dc.subjectScienceen_NZ
dc.subjectPhenomenologyen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmenten_NZ
dc.subjectMāorien_NZ
dc.subjectMāori worldviewen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental historyen_NZ
dc.subjectColonisationen_NZ
dc.subjectSettler societyen_NZ
dc.subjectConsultationen_NZ
dc.subjectDemocracyen_NZ
dc.subjectParticipationen_NZ
dc.subjectParticipatory decision-makingen_NZ
dc.subjectDeliberationen_NZ
dc.subjectDeliberative decision-makingen_NZ
dc.subjectCultural impact assessmenten_NZ
dc.subjectŌtāitien_NZ
dc.subjectAstrolabe Reef’en_NZ
dc.subjectApologyen_NZ
dc.subjectCorporate apologyen_NZ
dc.subjectImage repairen_NZ
dc.subjectReputationen_NZ
dc.subjectReputation repairen_NZ
dc.subjectDiscourseen_NZ
dc.subjectDiscourse analysisen_NZ
dc.subjectRhetoricen_NZ
dc.subjectOrganisational rhetoricen_NZ
dc.subjectCrisis managementen_NZ
dc.subjectCrisis communicationen_NZ
dc.subjectSocial constructionen_NZ
dc.subjectSocial constructionismen_NZ
dc.subjectSociology of knowledgeen_NZ
dc.subjectTraditional ecological knowledgeen_NZ
dc.subjectMātauranga Māorien_NZ
dc.subjectRisken_NZ
dc.subjectRisk managementen_NZ
dc.subjectOrganisational communicationen_NZ
dc.subjectOrganisational discourseen_NZ
dc.subjectHolismen_NZ
dc.subjectReductionismen_NZ
dc.subjectCritical discourse analysisen_NZ
dc.subjectTe ao Māorien_NZ
dc.subjectIndigenous perspectiveen_NZ
dc.subjectIndigenous worldviewen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental communicationen_NZ
dc.subjectEcological imperialismen_NZ
dc.subjectSustainabilityen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental sustainabilityen_NZ
dc.subjectEcologyen_NZ
dc.subjectRational ecologyen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental politicsen_NZ
dc.subjectKaitiakien_NZ
dc.subjectKaitiakitangaen_NZ
dc.subjectDisasteren_NZ
dc.subjectDisaster researchen_NZ
dc.subjectTraumaen_NZ
dc.subjectCommunityen_NZ
dc.subjectMaurien_NZ
dc.subjectMauriometeren_NZ
dc.subjectMauri modelen_NZ
dc.subjectPersuasionen_NZ
dc.subjectSocial changeen_NZ
dc.subjectEcolinguisiticsen_NZ
dc.subjectLogicen_NZ
dc.subjectNarrativeen_NZ
dc.subjectRationalityen_NZ
dc.subjectVolunteer programmeen_NZ
dc.subjectVolunteersen_NZ
dc.subjectRisk societyen_NZ
dc.subjectRecreancyen_NZ
dc.subjectTechnological risken_NZ
dc.subjectChronic communityen_NZ
dc.subjectCommunity stressen_NZ
dc.subjectOil spillen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental personhooden_NZ
dc.subjectNatureen_NZ
dc.subjectMāori ontologyen_NZ
dc.subjectMāori knowledgeen_NZ
dc.subjectTapuen_NZ
dc.subjectManaen_NZ
dc.subjectWairuaen_NZ
dc.subjectVitalismen_NZ
dc.subjectMāori cultureen_NZ
dc.subjectMaritime lawen_NZ
dc.subjectResource management Act 1991en_NZ
dc.subjectRMAen_NZ
dc.subjectEthicsen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental ethicsen_NZ
dc.subjectsocial conflicten_NZ
dc.subjectrisk communicationen_NZ
dc.subjecttikanga Māorien_NZ
dc.subjectwhakamāen_NZ
dc.subjectstigmaen_NZ
dc.subjectMāori valuesen_NZ
dc.subjectRena long-term environmental recovery planen_NZ
dc.subjectExxon Valdezen_NZ
dc.subjectPost-traumatic stressen_NZ
dc.subjectIdentity, placeen_NZ
dc.subjectSense of selfen_NZ
dc.subjectCorrosive communityen_NZ
dc.subjectSocial justiceen_NZ
dc.subjectShipwrecken_NZ
dc.subjectSocial impacten_NZ
dc.subjectWaitangi Tribunalen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental lawen_NZ
dc.subjectEnvironmental racismen_NZ
dc.subjectCase studyen_NZ
dc.subjectMotiti Islanden_NZ
dc.subjectTaurangaen_NZ
dc.subjectMaketuen_NZ
dc.titleThe Anatomy of an Environmental Decision: A Discourse Analysis of Events and Processes Linked to the Grounding of the MV Renaen_NZ
dc.typeThesisen_NZ
thesis.degree.grantorAuckland University of Technology
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral Theses
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_NZ
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