Premium
Getting down to business? Critical discourse analysis of perspectives on the private sector in sustainable development
Author(s) -
Cummings Sarah,
Seferiadis AnastasiaAlithia,
Haan Leah
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
sustainable development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.115
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1099-1719
pISSN - 0968-0802
DOI - 10.1002/sd.2026
Subject(s) - private sector , sustainable development , leverage (statistics) , skepticism , critical discourse analysis , corporate social responsibility , sustainability , discourse analysis , public sector , business sector , relevance (law) , political science , economics , economic growth , public relations , economy , politics , epistemology , linguistics , computer science , law , ecology , philosophy , machine learning , ideology , biology
Critical discourse analysis is employed to examine discourses of the private sector within key texts of the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Taking a genealogical approach, four discourses are identified in the literature: the dominant, pro‐private sector discourse, showing unconditional support for the private sector; the sceptical discourse; the middle‐ground discourse with new approaches, specifically designed to leverage development relevance; and the antiprivate sector discourse, which considers that current approaches to the private sector will not be conducive to sustainable development of the global South. The pro‐private sector discourse was found to be predominant within the global goals, reflecting the post‐Washington Consensus as well as the role of the developed countries and the corporate sector in their formulation. All discourses on the private sector, however, place an emphasis on economic and social development at the expense of the key environmental component of sustainable development.