Switch Language
Discourse and Sustainability
Descrição
The Seminar Series "Discourse and Sustainability" is an international forum for presenting and discussing new, cutting edge, research on discourse and issues of sustainability, environment, climate change and ecology.
But don't forget to join this group by login in/ joining the DiscourseNet page, and pressing "join group" so you get future updates too!
Next Talk:
20 March 2026 (1-2 UK pm time): Stephan Pühringer and Lukas Bäuerle Johannes (Kepler Universität Linz) , Socio-Ecological Transformation (SET) and Economic Reasoning (ER): A conceptual framework to assess the defining relationship of our times, Please register here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/ed0ae4cd-832a-4336-ab4a-3a2d7bdfdecb@4a5378f9-29f4-4d3e-be89-669d03ada9d8
The paper introduces the SETER framework, a conceptual tool for analyzing the interplay between Socio-Ecological Transformation (SET) and Economic Reasoning (ER). In the context of global crises and the contested nature of sustainability discourses, the framework identifies eight key categories – ranging from economic goals and the role of the state to transformative dynamics and agency – to systematically compare diverse SET narratives and their basic underlying economic assumptions. Drawing on insights from Social Studies of Economics (SSE) and Sustainability Transitions Research (STR), the framework highlights how ER shapes SET discourses and potential pathways, influencing both the diagnosis of socio-ecological crises and its proposed solutions. The paper applies the framework for two contrasting cases: the EU Green Deal, which exemplifies a market-driven “green growth” narrative, and Kōhei Saitō’s Degrowth Manifesto, which advocates for commons-based, sufficiency-oriented transformation. These cases illustrate the framework’s ability to map competing visions of SET, revealing the systemic dependencies between ER categories and their manifestations. The SETER framework also enables a typification of antagonistic narratives opposing SET, such as techno-libertarian or fossil-modernization discourses. While the framework provides a useful tool for categorizing and comparing SET narratives, its integration with power-focused analytical tools is necessary to assess the performative influence of these narratives. By offering a flexible, cross-sectoral, and longitudinal approach, the SETER framework provides a robust methodology for navigating the complexities of SET-related discourses, fostering critical reflection on economic imaginaries, and envisioning equitable and sustainable pathways for transformation.
Keywords: Socio-Ecological Transformation, Economic Reasoning, Economic Narratives, Sustainability Transitions
Programme for 2025-26
29 May 2023 (1-2 UK pm time): Salla-Riikka Kuusalu (University of Turku), Linguistic constructions of clearcutting in an online forum: Learning from polarised views on forestry and forest conservation in Finland., Please register here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/1869881b-6df6-4356-83a0-58c313e7a128@4a5378f9-29f4-4d3e-be89-669d03ada9d8
19 June 2026 (1-2 pm UK time): SPEAKER TBC, TITLE TBC, Please register here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/9fae5712-f574-417a-8028-fa9cbc87b48b@4a5378f9-29f4-4d3e-be89-669d03ada9d8
POSTPONED: Franzisca Weder (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Sustainability as Discursive Guidepost for Creating Transformative Agency in Professional Communication Education,
--------
Previous Talks
20 February 2026 (1-2 UK pm time): Matteo Fuoli (University of Birmingham), The language of net zero: A corpus-assisted analysis of corporate climate pledges, catch up here:https://youtu.be/COwluKfSyow
23 January 2026 (1-2 UK pm time): Teresa Fidélis (University of Aveiro), One Concert, Multiple Tunes: Evidence from the Circular Economy Narratives Across EU Member States’ Action Plans, catch up here: https://youtu.be/pyXc_NB8Sgc
21 November 2025 (1-2 pm UK time): Gerard O'Grady (University of Cardiff), Degrowth in the UK press: covert climate change denial and techno optimism, catch up here: https://youtu.be/aZ_PA1j36GY
23 May 2025 (1-2 UK pm time): Arran Stibbe (University of Gloucestershire, UK), The emerging discourse of the bioeconomy
21 March 2025 (1-2 UK pm time):Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska (University of Opole, Poland), Imagining sustainable futures: Critical multimodal analyses of policy discourse, activist discourse and science popularization discourse - catch up here: https://youtu.be/otiXeOlsmzY
21 February 2025 (1-2 pm UK time): Katherine E. Russo (Università degli Studi di Napoli L'Orientale, Italy): Negative Solidarity in Environmental Crisis Contexts: A Corpus-based Online News and Social Media Critical Discourse Analysis of the Australian Black Summer. - catch up here: https://youtu.be/hwrpkT4VLeU
24 January 2025 (1-2 pm UK time): Peter Mayeso Jiyajiya (University of Glasgow, UK): Recounting The Socio-Structural Realities in NGO-Community Engagement and their Implications On Sustainability in Malawi: The Researcher’s Experience,- catch up here: https://youtu.be/UB1neI9TqC8
15 November (1-2 pm UK time): Anders Horsbøl and Anne Grethe Julius Pedersen (Aalborg Universitet, Denmark): Reorganising citizen participation in green energy transition: first insights from an ongoing study of municipality, civil society and industry discourses in a Danish context., Catch up here: https://youtu.be/PX11yg6jz6g
Programme Summer Term 2024
9th February 2024, 11 am UK time (note the different time): Rescheduled talk, Ben Clarke (University of Gothenburg) Wanting for a better climate of discussion on the environment: Patterns of impoliteness, transitivity and Engagement in online newsreader comments that receive uncivil replies - catch up here: https://youtu.be/4oAxX0OCdco
16th February 2024, 12 noon UK TIME, Jonathan Joseph (University of Bristol): Resilience, sustainability and the crisis of the Liberal International Order - catch up here: https://youtu.be/0NQniwwGZR4
15th March 2024, 12 noon UK TIME, Kelsey Campolong (Ulster University): Neoliberalism in the Glasgow Climate Pact: Interdiscursivity and Faux-Sustainability at COP26 - catch up here: https://youtu.be/4DJsghVbWBk
19th April 2024, 12 noon UK TIME, Robert Poole (University of Alabama): Investigating ecological change and climate crisis through diachronic corpus-assisted ecolinguistics - catch up here: https://youtu.be/Tz3ilma3qWY
17th May 2024, 12 noon UK TIME, Nicolina Montesano Montessori (HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht): Towards a systemic, social ecological justice: ways forward for Critical Policy Discourse Analysis. catch up here: https://youtu.be/mpZw_opqY0g
7th June 2024, 12 noon UK TIME, Bernhard Forchtner (University of Leicester): Sustainability and the far right? The case of degrowth’
--------
The programme Winter Term 2023-2024:
20 October 2023, 12noon-1pm (note the different time) John Dryzek (University of Canberra) 'The Rise (and Fall?) of Grey Radicalism'
17 November 2023, 1-2pm, Tom Bartlett (University of Glasgow), Just Transitions to sustainable practice - Is there a role for discourse analysts?
15 December 2023, 1-2pm, Anabella Carvalho (University of Minho), Political imaginaries and climate change
****POSTPONED**** Ben Clarke, (Göteborgs universitet), TBC