Master of Science - Agricultural Education and Communication / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Jason D. Ellis / The general public is more generationally and geographically removed from agricultural
production today than ever before, yet as influential as ever with regards to its ability to impact
the operating conditions of the animal agriculture industry. To date, the agriculture industry has
focused research and extension on how to educate and persuade the public in order to gain
support for its practices and policies. Little work has investigated how the language choices of
those communicating about agriculture may be functioning to position themselves and other
participants with regards to authority and credibility, and how this affects their communication
and the industry as a whole.
This study sought to develop an understanding as to how three key groups in the animal
agriculture conversation (experts, professional communicators, and agricultural advocates) use
discourse and language to position themselves and other participants, their explanations of
opposition to animal agriculture, and their ideas about how to best present and justify their
arguments to the wider public. In addition to this, the study also sought to understand what
power structures and dynamics exist within the conversation. Semi-structured interviews were
conducted to collect data for a critical discourse analysis.
The discursive practices of the participants functioned to ultimately undermine and
delegitimize the role of the public and individuals and groups opposed to animal agriculture, as
well as position the industry and its constituents as the only authoritative and credible voices in
the animal agriculture conversation. This is likely to be prohibitive to achieving the goals of
agricultural communication activities. Those communicating on behalf of the animal agriculture
industry should become more aware of how their beliefs, values, and ideologies impact the
discourse from which they are operating, as well as how their communication is functioning.
This research was undertaken from a critical inquiry perspective, shedding light on some of the
power structures inherent between the animal agriculture industry and the general public. Others
undertaking agricultural sociology and related research should consider doing so integrating a
similar theoretical perspective to continually challenge the assumptions and conditions under
which the industry operates.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/34495 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Coombes, Stephanie |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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