Description
The 2016 vote to leave the European Union has had serious effects on the political debate in a range of policy areas. In two of the most Europeanised policy areas, environment and agriculture, Brexit has acted as a dislocation opening the discussion to new problems, and new solutions. Not only this, but it has allowed for the possibility of a differentiated de-europeanisation across the United Kingdom. The UK is leaving the EU at a time of environmental crisis, and a crisis in environmental governance.
This paper considers the critiques of mainstream approaches to researching governance from critical theory, and in turn elaborates a hegemonic governance approach rooted in Discourse Theory. This approach offers the opportunity to take politics seriously and consider governance at a time of instability and change.
Northern Ireland has long been an environmental laggard with a series of court cases in the European Court of Justice, and no independent environmental protection agency. With over 1000 days without an executive the governing authorities have been attempting to navigate the development of post-Brexit authority and the necessary changes to environmental governance to deal with the present crisis, By including a range of political actors Northern Ireland has presented the perfect opportunity as a case study to illustrate this conception of governance using discourse theory to analyse the inclusions and exclusions within the policy network, and the logics driving the different discourses.
Therefore, this paper will conceptualise a Discourse Theoretical form of governance analysis, using the Northern Irish case as an ideal type of taking discourse, politics and agency seriously.
