Organising talk : coastal environmental impact assessment as argumentative practice in Barbados

Abstract

In Barbados, the most easterly nation of the arc of Caribbean islands, there is increasing pressure on coastal areas due to the island's continued reliance on beach tourism and the growing urbanisation of coastal lands. In 1992, an institutional strengthening report for coastal zone management recommended a comprehensive, proactive organisational framework for coastal planning and management. This recommendation included provisions for more rigorous environmental impact assessment (EIA) to improve decision outcomes for coastal development areas. Prior to this recommendation, EIA was neither a formal requirement of coastal zone management nor of the wider land use planning system.

Through a case study of the Port St. Charles Waterfront Development located on the west coast of the island, the notion of argumentation is used to explore how individuals help to construct different interpretations and meanings of EIA. It is argued that language is a powerful organising activity which is used as a resource to develop the political realities of policy actors. The key concepts of text, argument, storylines and policy myths are developed to observe and analyse the politics underlying the articulated interpretations of policy actors. This analysis of argumentative structure provides a framework for anticipating the political consequences of choices made by policy-makers in the use of EIA for coastal zone management. This is followed by a discussion of some implications for EIA policy analysis and forms of institutional strengthening with specific reference to Barbados.