This thesis used discourse analysis to critically study language in use in the Swedish forest policy debate. This was done by applying Maarten Hajer ́s argumentative discourse analysis and his concepts of discourse coalitions, storylines, and discourse institutionalization. The analysis concentrates on different actors’ input in the political debate after the launch of the EU Green Deal in 2019. The debate on Swedish forest policies have been going on for decades and are characterized by seemingly locked positions and actors defending their standpoints in different forums. Four competing discourses were identified: the bioeconomy discourse, the market competition discourse, the biodiversity discourse, and the rights of nature discourse. The dominating discourse is the bioeconomy discourse, which can be determined by its presence in Sweden’s national forest plan and further, in strategies determining the forest management. One puzzling finding is that the Swedish government together with the forest industry actively tries to hamper regulations and directives under the Green Deal, despite being positive about the bioeconomy pathway promoted by the EU. This suggests that even if Swedish policymaking processes are influenced by certain meta-discourses, bioeconomy is portrayed in different ways and cannot be generalized. Results from this study contributes with insights to the contemporary debate in a time when increased regulations demands policy reformations. Conclusions suggests that if Sweden’s National Forest Plan is to be in line with the EU Green Deal, large revisions are required. Critical policy studies that scrutinize the policymaking process could support the process by opening for other ways of imagining the future of Swedish forests.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-205734 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Valger, Charlotte |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för tema |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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