Discourse Analysis of Indigenous Women's Construct on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Managing and understanding the environment and its issues is not limited to one environmental discourse but to numerous discourses. It is created through histories which result in contradictions as narratives may oppose each other. This opposition is considered an important aspect of discourse. This article explores how biodiversity and sustainable development were discursively constructed by indigenous women living in an agricultural society with distinct cultural practices closely linked to rice farming and examined the outcomes arising from their construction of biodiversity and sustainable development. Seven women farmers were interviewed and conversations were transcribed, coded and analyzed through discourse analysis using Maarten Hajer's conceptual tool. Five major discourses emerged from this study: conserving biodiversity through the notion of contrasting views on farming responsibilities, conserving biodiversity through a sense of community, sustainability of government initiatives, negotiating cultural heritage and economic benefits, and articulating sustainable development.