Discourse and Dissent in Policy Making
Discourse and Dissent in Policy Making
Transversal practices operate within and across different disciplinary fields and societal boundaries, using everyday actions to challenge hegemonic discourses. These practices enable individuals to travel across discursive fields, gaining insights necessary to question and potentially escape prevailing orders. The power of mundane acts of resistance lies in their ability to incrementally transform societal values, supporting profound social change that transcends spatial and national boundaries .
Discourses in IR function as mechanisms of control and exclusion by establishing and maintaining the boundaries of what is considered valid discourse within the field. They are created and controlled through complex processes, often determining what can and cannot be discussed in an 'acceptable' manner. As stated by Bleiker, discourses explain why long-standing systems of thought are perceived as reasonable, even if their origins are not. They create systems of exclusion, promoting certain discourses to dominance while marginalizing others .
Mobile subjectivities, which thrive on shifting from one discursive identity to another, allow individuals to navigate and reinterpret various fields of power. This movement enables them to gain critical insights and disrupt established norms, promoting resistance against dominant structures. By challenging static identities and engaging in transversal practices, these individuals help to demystify and destabilize hegemonic orders and contribute to incremental societal changes .
New forms of description can open possibilities for action by providing frameworks through which individuals can understand and enact new roles or identities, such as those labeled as 'juvenile delinquents' or people with 'split personalities.' Conversely, they can also close off possibilities by invalidating actions through pathologization or moral condemnation, like redefining soldiers' actions from desertion to symptoms of PTSD .
The fluid nature of discourse implies that policy-making is inherently tied to the language and descriptions employed in its formation. Actions are preconstituted in language, meaning that without critical examination of discourse, policy evaluations can be superficial. This dynamic suggests that engaging with and critiquing the discursive formations is essential to avoiding static or one-dimensional policy analysis .
The interplay demonstrates that social and political events are complex constructs where action, description, and intention are intertwined. Actions are rooted in descriptions that are themselves tethered to the intentions behind them, making the events context-dependent and open to multiple interpretations. Such complexity highlights the necessity for meticulous examination of the narratives surrounding these events, challenging static or simplistic evaluations and promoting a multidimensional understanding of sociopolitical dynamics .
Redescriptions can fundamentally alter the contemporary understanding of historical events by applying new interpretations that come with different moral or social connotations. For example, soldiers formerly condemned for desertion may be seen under new lenses like PTSD, transforming their actions from criminal to symptomatic. Similarly, the European settlement of Aboriginal lands may be reinterpreted as an invasion, challenging previous narratives and highlighting acts previously considered acceptable as reprehensible .
Patton's concept reveals that actions cannot be fully understood without considering the descriptions that give them meaning. These descriptions are tied to the intentions and beliefs of the agents, which shape the characterization of the action. Different descriptions can lead to varying interpretations, suggesting that the identity of an action is not exhausted by any single account. This idea underscores the indeterminacy of actions, as one action can be understood in multiple ways depending on the context and descriptions applied .
Bleiker suggests that individuals can escape aspects of hegemony by exploiting the discursive cracks within entrenched hegemonic orders. This involves a shift from epistemological to ontological considerations, allowing individuals to engage in acts of 'dailiness' that reflect alternative identities and resist dominant social practices. By engaging in these transversal practices, individuals can pursue an existential transformation, becoming something other than what current hegemonic discourses dictate .
Global politics are increasingly influenced by discursive practices that transcend geographical and sovereign boundaries, driven by the trans-territorial flow of capital and information. These practices are not bound to specific locales and can influence values and societal norms globally. As discourses propagate across borders, they challenge existing political orders and suggest that the sphere of diplomatic and policy concerns stretches into the everyday lives of individuals worldwide, thus demanding broader, interconnected analyses .