“Activism in paradise”: A critical discourse analysis of a public
Tracking number
relations campaign against genetic engineering.
ICA-15-10063
6
public awareness about genetic modification and lobbying the Government in favor of
limiting genetic modification to laboratory-based research.
Public submissions to the Royal Commission had overwhelmingly focused on concerns about
the introduction of genetic modification to New Zealand: 92% of the 11,000 submissions,
presented in writing, were against the introduction of genetic engineering to food or the
environment (Greenpeace, New Zealand, 2001.) This was a huge number of submissions
given the current population of New Zealand of a little over three and a half million people.
The public survey also showed that over 50% of the people surveyed in New Zealand felt that
there were disadvantages in using genetic modification in processed foods, farm animals,
research using animals, and commercial crops. Approval of genetic modification was,
however, higher for medical research, the development of medicines and vaccines, and pest
control (Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, 2001, Appendix 3, p. 181).
The issues-management campaign that is analyzed in this paper was possibly instigated out of
a fear that the recommendations of the Commission would be legitimated, and that public
concerns would be discounted by the Government.
Theoretical perspectives
Discourse and power
The role of language in the debate about genetically modified foods and the power constituted
in language construction and use is the focus for this paper. This focus stems from the
position that discourse shapes and is shaped by society: “Discourse is a practice not just of
Convention