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Irrigating the Future: Justice, Emancipation and lessons from the past, a critical discourse analysis

Víkingsson, Viðar Örn LU (2016) HEKM50 20161
Department of Human Geography
Human Ecology
Abstract
Confronting ecological crises is leading many researchers and academics to take a renewed interest in the deep past. The archaeological and climatic record are posed as a source of lessons that can be brought to bear on current issues of sustainability. IHOPE, or Integrated History and Future of People on Earth, presents one such effort, a collaborative and inter-disciplinary project with aims to contribute to a better future for humanity through lessons from the past. Such efforts must however be ready to traverse the rough terrain of environmental and social justice discourses, issues that lie at the heart of ecological crises everywhere and without which no meaningful engagement with sustainability can be had. I outline the discursive... (More)
Confronting ecological crises is leading many researchers and academics to take a renewed interest in the deep past. The archaeological and climatic record are posed as a source of lessons that can be brought to bear on current issues of sustainability. IHOPE, or Integrated History and Future of People on Earth, presents one such effort, a collaborative and inter-disciplinary project with aims to contribute to a better future for humanity through lessons from the past. Such efforts must however be ready to traverse the rough terrain of environmental and social justice discourses, issues that lie at the heart of ecological crises everywhere and without which no meaningful engagement with sustainability can be had. I outline the discursive spaces that exist within such efforts, focusing on the long standing IHOPE-Maya project centred around past socio-ecological change in the Yucatán. I employ dialectic theory and critical discourse analysis to map out these spaces. I conclude that the reliance of IHOPE-Maya researchers on three discourses - resilience discourse, complex adaptive systems discourse and anthropos discourse – place in many ways severe constraints on incorporating social and environmental justice discourses. Moving on I suggest possibilities for creative tensions which could be explored for the benefit of a truly integrated history and future. (Less)
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author
Víkingsson, Viðar Örn LU
supervisor
organization
course
HEKM50 20161
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
justice, IHOPE, archaeology, resilience, complex-adaptive systems, critical discourse analysis
language
English
id
8873559
date added to LUP
2017-05-22 14:22:47
date last changed
2017-05-22 14:22:47
@misc{8873559,
  abstract     = {{Confronting ecological crises is leading many researchers and academics to take a renewed interest in the deep past. The archaeological and climatic record are posed as a source of lessons that can be brought to bear on current issues of sustainability. IHOPE, or Integrated History and Future of People on Earth, presents one such effort, a collaborative and inter-disciplinary project with aims to contribute to a better future for humanity through lessons from the past. Such efforts must however be ready to traverse the rough terrain of environmental and social justice discourses, issues that lie at the heart of ecological crises everywhere and without which no meaningful engagement with sustainability can be had. I outline the discursive spaces that exist within such efforts, focusing on the long standing IHOPE-Maya project centred around past socio-ecological change in the Yucatán. I employ dialectic theory and critical discourse analysis to map out these spaces. I conclude that the reliance of IHOPE-Maya researchers on three discourses - resilience discourse, complex adaptive systems discourse and anthropos discourse – place in many ways severe constraints on incorporating social and environmental justice discourses. Moving on I suggest possibilities for creative tensions which could be explored for the benefit of a truly integrated history and future.}},
  author       = {{Víkingsson, Viðar Örn}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Irrigating the Future: Justice, Emancipation and lessons from the past, a critical discourse analysis}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}