Understanding "GATTSPEAK" : an analysis of the discourses surrounding the general agreement of tariffs and trade and their presentation in the media

Abstract

The planet Earth is faced with many environmental crises. The effects of trade have played a part in this environmental degradation. The GATT plays a major role in determining the practices of international trade. There exists conflict and tension between discourses surrounding trade and environmental discourses. Throughout the course of this project I investigate the way in which the discourses surrounding the GATT have established and maintained a dominant position in society. This position of dominance has been at the expense of environmental discourses. By using a framework advocated by Fairclough, who in turn uses the work of Foucault, I examine three different dimensions of the discourses surrounding the GATT: Discourse as social practice; discourse as discursive practice; and discourse as text. My particular focus is upon the historical locations the discourses surrounding the GATT have originated from and the role the media have played in perpetuating the hegemony with a specific focus upon the presentation of the GATT within newspaper reports.

This form of analysis allows some measure of insight into the complex nature of the patterns of dominance that ensure resistant and challenging discourses are marginalised or ignored completely. This type of analysis, especially of agreements such as the GATT, is important in order to better understand ways and means of successfully challenging dominant discourses.