“Activism in paradise”: A critical discourse analysis of a public
Tracking number
relations campaign against genetic engineering.
ICA-15-10063
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The first conceptualization of national identity is articulated by the major business and
scientific organizations represented in the debate. It reflects the concerns of organizations
whose identity is associated with, and prioritizes, economic discourses centering on growth,
profit, and market share. New Zealand is identified in terms of an organization competing in
the global marketplace on the basis of new technology and product development. In this
sense, discourse about science/technology has been colonized by economic discourse
(Moffitt, 1994). The legitimation of such discourses occurs through use of the rationalist
arguments of neo-liberal interest groups (Habermas, 1996).
In contrast, the second conceptualization of national identity, favored by the GE Free
coalition, is articulated with environmental discourses prioritizing biodiversity and ecological
sustainability. These discourses are often ethically based, arguing for the collective social
good on the basis of cultural values. (Habermas, 1996) However, New Zealand is additionally
conceptualized by the GE Free coalition as an organization competing in the global
marketplace on the basis of niche organic markets. The coalition aims to strengthen and
legitimate the environmental argument by adding an economic justification to give a different
perspective to the prevailing market-based rationalization for genetic modification. In one of
the banners used during the protest marches, the protest was positioned as part of the anti-
globalization movement, against transnational corporate business. Arguing for a New Zealand
identity as 100% pure, is, therefore, both an economic argument, arguing for a different
market for New Zealand goods at home and overseas, and a scientific argument, arguing for
the privileging of biodiversity and environmental sustainability. This is also an argument
based on lifestyle/identity. The re-articulation of New Zealand as a “half-gallon, quarter acre,
pavlova paradise” (Austin Mitchell, 1972) reflects the earlier identity of New Zealand and of
New Zealanders being self-sufficient “do-it-yourselfers” in creating a land of plenty (typical
Convention