2005/03/01 by Yvonne Rydin
Social Sciences · #Computer science #Discourse analysis #Economics #Epistemology #Geographic Information Systems Studies #Geography Education and Pedagogy #Historical Geography and Geographical Thought #Linguistics #Philosophy #Policy analysis #Political science #Positive economics #Process (computing) #Public administration #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1475-4762.2005.00604.x
openalex publication_date 2005/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The ‘discursive turn’ has been blamed for a lack of engagement between geographers and policymakers. This paper argues that such a view is fundamentally flawed. It ignores the positive contribution that discourse analysis has made to policy studies and the particular role that geographers have played in developing such analyses. It is based on a misconceived view of the policy process and how knowledge can contribute to policy outcomes. A closer attention to policy discourses reveals exactly how knowledge is constructed within the policy process and can help identify how policy may be improved through discursive means.