Abstract
In recent years, companies all around the world directed their concerns towards environmental issues regarding the promotion and sales of their products and services. Such developments have been theoretically debated under the terms “green marketing” and “green advertising” in academia, especially in the fields of public relations and advertising. It is certain that the increasing market interest in the “green” has cultural, political and ideological implications, in addition to the market-oriented interests. In this regard, this paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of the advertisements by “Akkuyu Nükleer”, a nuclear power plant company that initiated the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant. By analyzing the campaign’s TV and outdoor advertisements, this paper will argue that the green advertising campaign facilitated by the company provides an example for a peculiar form of “ecogovernmentality”, a term coined after Michel Foucault’s notion of governmentality; in the sense that the discourse of the campaign aims to eliminate the potential threats of the nuclear power plantation and hence regulate the ways in which individuals relate themselves to the environment. An agreement between Russia and Turkey for the construction of a nuclear power plant has been signed at May 2010 and the work began at Mersin’s Akkuyu district in 2011. As the public raised critical concerns over the project with an increasing attention, the company responded with an advertising campaign launched at March 2015. As this paper will show, the discourse of the campaign focused on the positive aspects of a nuclear plant project especially in terms of its contribution to the energy production, environment and the overall development of future generations. The discourse of advertisements particularly focus on progress, youth and the future; aiming to persuade the public that what they approach in skeptical manner is actually a project with which their hopes for the future will be guaranteed. Significantly, children appear in advertisements as actors and actresses to draw attention to the contribution that the nuclear power plant will make for the safety of future generations. The advertisement discourse however systematically conceals any potential threats and fears that the nuclear power plant may cause. Moreover, the advertisement discourse is constructed in such a homogeneous way since it presents an “ideal” imagination of Turkey’s nuclear era without any risks. Referring to Foucault’s terminology, this paper will point at the power-discourse dynamics by analyzing the ways in which the discourse regarding the nuclear plant project is instrumentalized to provide the public with a certain form of understanding about the nuclear phenomenon; which helps the state and the market to govern the existing power relations. To sum up, this paper will first address the ways in which such a discourse is constructed and then will continue with the deconstruction of meaning production in the advertisements by a critical discourse analysis. This paper will eventually show that advertising as a “technology of government” provides a legitimate space for power-discourse-knowledge dynamics to be exercised via advertising as ecogovernmentality to discursively eliminate the potentialities of an ecological disruption.
Keywords: Advertising, Ecogovernmentality, Michel Foucault, Discourse Analysis, Nuclear Power Plant
Keywords
References
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- Alniacik, U., & Yilmaz, C. (2012). “The Effectiveness of Green Advertising: Influencesof Claim Specificity, Product’s Environmental Relevance and Consumers’ Pro-Environmental Orientation”. Amfiteatru Economic. 14 (31), 207-222.
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- Barber, D. (2009). “Environmentalisation and Environmentality: Re-Conceiving the History of 20thc Architecture”. Design Philosophy Papers. 7 (3), 145-160.
- Bauman, Z. (2005). Work, Consumerism and the New Poor. New York: Open University Press.
- Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. New Delhi: Sage.
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- Dyer, G. (2009). Advertising as Communication. New York: Routledge.
- Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London and New York: Routledge.
- Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London and New York: Longman.
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- Foucault, M. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978–79. Hampshire/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Foucault, M. (1990). The History of Sexuality: Volume 1. New York: Vintage Books.
- Foucault, M. (2007). “The Meshes of Power”. In J. C. Elden (Ed.), Space, Knowledge and Power: Foucault and Geography (pp. 153-162). Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
- Foucault, M. (1982). “The Subject and Power”. Critical Inquiry. 8 (4), 777-795.
- Foucault, M. (1980). “Two Lectures”. In C. Gordon (Ed.), Michel Foucault: Power/Knowledge. Selected Interviews and Other Writings (pp. 78-108). New York: Pantheon.
- (2011). “From Foucault’s Lectures at the Collège de France to Studies of Governmentality: An Introduction”. In U. Bröckling, S. Krasmann, & T. Lemke (Eds.), Governmentality: Current Issues and Future Challenges (pp. 1-33). New York: Routledge.
- Goldman, R. (1992). Reading Ads Socially. New York: Routledge.
- Gupta, A. (1998). Postcolonial Developments. Agriculture in the Making of Modern India. Durham/London: Duke University Press.
- Hannah, M. G. (2000). Governmentality and the Mastery of Territory in Nineteenth-Century America. Cambridge: Cambidge University Press.
- Inda, J. X. (2005). “Analytics of the Modern: An Introduction”. In J. X. Inda (Ed.), Anthropologies of Modernity: Foucault, Governmentality, and Life Politics (pp. 1-22). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Kalpagam, U. (2002). “Colonial Governmentality and the Public Sphere in India”. Journal of Historical Sociology. 15 (1), 35-58.
- Lemke, T. (2011). “Beyond Foucault: From Biopolitics to the Government of Life”. In U. Bröckling, S. Krasmann, & T. Lemke (Eds.), Governmentality: Current Issues and Future Challenges (pp. 165-184). New York: Routledge.
- Luke, T. (1999). “Environmentality as Green Governmentality”. In E. Darier (Ed.), Discourses of the Environment (pp. 121–151). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Malette, S. (2009). “Foucault for the next century: eco−governmentality”. In S. B. Capetillo (Ed.), A Foucault for the 21st Century: Governmentality, Biopolitics and Discipline in the New Millennium (pp. 221-239). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Nakajima, N. (2001). “Green Advertising and Green Public Relations as Integration Propaganda”. Bulletin of Science Technology Society. 21 (5), 334-348.
- Ong, A. (1999). Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Ong, A. (1995). “Making the Biopolitical Subject: Cambodian Immigrants, Refugee Medicine, and Cultural Citizenship in California”. Social Science and Medicine. 40 (9), 1243–1257.
- Peattie, K. (1995). Environmental Marketing Management. London: Pitman.
- Rutherford, P. (1999). “The Entry of Life into History”. In E. Darier (Ed.), Discourses of the Environment (pp. 37-62). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Rutherford, S. (2007). “Green Governmentality: Insights and Opportunities in the Study of Nature’s Rule”. Progress in Human Geography. 31 (3), 291–307.
- Stoler, A. L. (1995). Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault’s History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Walters, W. (2012). Governmentaity: Critical Encounters, Critical Issues in Global Politics. New York: Routledge.
- Williams, R. (1999). “Advertising: The Magic System”. In S. During (Ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (pp. 410-423). New York: Routledge.
- Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars.
Abstract
References
- Agrawal, A. (2005). Environmentality: Technologies of Government and the Making of Subjects. Durham and London: Duke University Press.
- Alniacik, U., & Yilmaz, C. (2012). “The Effectiveness of Green Advertising: Influencesof Claim Specificity, Product’s Environmental Relevance and Consumers’ Pro-Environmental Orientation”. Amfiteatru Economic. 14 (31), 207-222.
- Bäckstrand, K. (2004). “Scientisation vs. Civic Expertise in Environmental Governance: Eco-Feminist, Eco-Modern and Post-Modern Responses”. Environmental Politics. 13 (4), 695–714.
- Barber, D. (2009). “Environmentalisation and Environmentality: Re-Conceiving the History of 20thc Architecture”. Design Philosophy Papers. 7 (3), 145-160.
- Bauman, Z. (2005). Work, Consumerism and the New Poor. New York: Open University Press.
- Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. New Delhi: Sage.
- Dahlstrom, R. (2011). Green Marketing Management. South-Western Cengage Learning.
- Darier, E. (1999). “Foucault and the Environment: An Introduction”. In E. Darier (Ed.), Discourses of the Environment (pp. 1-33). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Dyer, G. (2009). Advertising as Communication. New York: Routledge.
- Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London and New York: Routledge.
- Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London and New York: Longman.
- Fletcher, R. (2010). “Neoliberal Environmentality: Towards a Poststructuralist Political Ecology of the Conservation Debate”. Conservation and Society. 8 (3), 171-181.
- Foucault, M. (1991). “Governmentality”. In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, & P. Miller (Eds.), The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality (pp. 87-104). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- Foucault, M. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978–79. Hampshire/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Foucault, M. (1990). The History of Sexuality: Volume 1. New York: Vintage Books.
- Foucault, M. (2007). “The Meshes of Power”. In J. C. Elden (Ed.), Space, Knowledge and Power: Foucault and Geography (pp. 153-162). Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
- Foucault, M. (1982). “The Subject and Power”. Critical Inquiry. 8 (4), 777-795.
- Foucault, M. (1980). “Two Lectures”. In C. Gordon (Ed.), Michel Foucault: Power/Knowledge. Selected Interviews and Other Writings (pp. 78-108). New York: Pantheon.
- (2011). “From Foucault’s Lectures at the Collège de France to Studies of Governmentality: An Introduction”. In U. Bröckling, S. Krasmann, & T. Lemke (Eds.), Governmentality: Current Issues and Future Challenges (pp. 1-33). New York: Routledge.
- Goldman, R. (1992). Reading Ads Socially. New York: Routledge.
- Gupta, A. (1998). Postcolonial Developments. Agriculture in the Making of Modern India. Durham/London: Duke University Press.
- Hannah, M. G. (2000). Governmentality and the Mastery of Territory in Nineteenth-Century America. Cambridge: Cambidge University Press.
- Inda, J. X. (2005). “Analytics of the Modern: An Introduction”. In J. X. Inda (Ed.), Anthropologies of Modernity: Foucault, Governmentality, and Life Politics (pp. 1-22). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Kalpagam, U. (2002). “Colonial Governmentality and the Public Sphere in India”. Journal of Historical Sociology. 15 (1), 35-58.
- Lemke, T. (2011). “Beyond Foucault: From Biopolitics to the Government of Life”. In U. Bröckling, S. Krasmann, & T. Lemke (Eds.), Governmentality: Current Issues and Future Challenges (pp. 165-184). New York: Routledge.
- Luke, T. (1999). “Environmentality as Green Governmentality”. In E. Darier (Ed.), Discourses of the Environment (pp. 121–151). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Malette, S. (2009). “Foucault for the next century: eco−governmentality”. In S. B. Capetillo (Ed.), A Foucault for the 21st Century: Governmentality, Biopolitics and Discipline in the New Millennium (pp. 221-239). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Nakajima, N. (2001). “Green Advertising and Green Public Relations as Integration Propaganda”. Bulletin of Science Technology Society. 21 (5), 334-348.
- Ong, A. (1999). Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Ong, A. (1995). “Making the Biopolitical Subject: Cambodian Immigrants, Refugee Medicine, and Cultural Citizenship in California”. Social Science and Medicine. 40 (9), 1243–1257.
- Peattie, K. (1995). Environmental Marketing Management. London: Pitman.
- Rutherford, P. (1999). “The Entry of Life into History”. In E. Darier (Ed.), Discourses of the Environment (pp. 37-62). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Rutherford, S. (2007). “Green Governmentality: Insights and Opportunities in the Study of Nature’s Rule”. Progress in Human Geography. 31 (3), 291–307.
- Stoler, A. L. (1995). Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault’s History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Walters, W. (2012). Governmentaity: Critical Encounters, Critical Issues in Global Politics. New York: Routledge.
- Williams, R. (1999). “Advertising: The Magic System”. In S. During (Ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (pp. 410-423). New York: Routledge.
- Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | December 29, 2015 |
| Submission Date | December 27, 2015 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2015Volume: 1 Issue: 3 |
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