The Contention of the Green Tax Reform

Abstract

This thesis investigates the discursive battle around fixating meaning on the issue of the green tax reform, and how the Danish agricultural and food lobby, Landbrug & Fødevarer, can potentially create a legitimate discursive position within this battle for influence on the topic. Applying the framework of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory, we manage to identify multiple discourse positions within the field of articulation, each striving to establish hegemony for itself. Two dominant discourses, in stark opposition to each other, are identified through the analysis. We’ve chosen to name these ‘a non-competitive Denmark’ and ‘a green Denmark’. Advancing from the field of articulation established, we move on to apply Marc Suchman’s neoinstitutional forms of legitimacy to identify how Landbrug & Fødevarer attempts to create a legitimate discursive position within the field. Our analysis strongly suggests that the organization exclusively positions itself through the rationales inherent in the discourse ‘a non-competitive Denmark’, and thereby neglect to appeal effectively to the audiences as they adhere to the oppositional discourse ‘a green Denmark’. Thereby Landbrug & Fødevarer only manages to establish a legitimate discourse position with reference to part of the field of articulation. It is established in the paper how the existential premises of Danish agriculture are hardly compatible with a high uniform Co2e-tax. Thus, Landbrug & Fødevarer has a limited range of opportunities in its endeavor to establish hegemony on the topic of the tax, which further limits its opportunities for influencing the concrete operationalization of it. Finally, concrete suggestions for intervention are proposed, which we argue that Landbrug & Fødevarer ought to consider adopting in their struggle for influence within the field of the green tax reform. It is further noted that the organization ought to attempt to universalize their particular demands through signifiers and rationales as they pertain to ‘a green Denmark’ and thus position itself with reference to a wider section of the field of articulation.