The Discursive Politics of Water: Interurban Struggles in the Nakdong River Catchment in South Korea

Author: Lee Sang-Hun  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1476-7244

Source: Urban Policy and Research, Vol.20, Iss.3, 2002-09, pp. : 281-298

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Abstract

The plan of establishing an industrial complex on the banks of the upper reaches of the Nakdong River, the longest river in South Korea, raised serious inter-urban conflict in 1989. As of 2002, the conflict still persists. This paper analyses why the conflict has gone on so long and what might be done to resolve it. The paper adopts discursive analysis and analyses different 'story-lines' and 'discursive coalitions' within the conflict. As nature is socially and culturally constructed, discursive analysis can show the different ways of constructing water. Using the approach of discursive analysis of the conflict, this paper suggests ecological democracy as a resolution.