Den värdefulla skogen: Diskursanalys av värdeskapande och natursyn i nya Skogsutredningen

Sammanfattning: This thesis studies discourses and the creation of values in a Swedish governmental report regarding forest management. Critical discourse analysis is conducted in order to understand how values of forests are shaped discursively. The general idea is that discourses reflect assumptions and affect understandings. How the relationship between nature and society is constructed can thus be analyzed. In addition, socio-ecological sustainability and the concept of discursive narratives is used to discuss the findings. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of values of nature in Swedish forest politics by examining underlying perceptions of nature and how it may influence sustainability. Analysis shows that ecological and social values are articulated through economic categories. The findings can be placed in a bioeconomy discourse and normative assumptions around sustainable development. The thesis argues that the governmental report privileges economic development and private ownership rights and is not socio-ecologically sustainable. The discursive practices of the report thus reproduces dominant discourse orders and power structures.