Conservation and Contestation in Conversation; The role of narratives in a policy debate about emission from agriculture in the Netherlands

Abstract

Within social sciences, there has been an increased interest in the study of narratives within policy debates and social movements. Narratives are a type of social construction of reality that ties into the performative aspect of social movements. Previous studies have found that narratives can serve a number of different functions, such as mobilizing people to join a movement, or as a tool for persuasion. This thesis adds to the growing body of research on narratives in social movements by showing how pervasive narratives can be in social movements. For this purpose I use a case study of the debate around cutting emissions from agriculture in the Netherlands in 2019 and the first half of 2020. This case study illustrates the many different functions narratives can serve, both by the groups involved, by mobilizing and creating unity, as well as on the individual level, by motivating action, acting as a heuristic, through meaning-making and identity formation. Additionally, one narrative may serve multiple functions at the same time, and multiple narratives may overlap. In this way, narratives are a part of a complex web of meaning. I have also demonstrated how narrative analysis can give deeper insight into social movements, by highlighting what the people in the movement find to be most important, and the moral the social movement wishes to convey to its audience. Additionally, narratives highlight differences within social movements, and can demonstrate similarities between opposing movements. For these reasons, the study of narrative is crucial to understanding social movements, both for researchers, as well as policy makers.