Creating forests with words — A review of forest-related discourse studies

There is a new trend in international forest policy science. Over the past decade the term “discourse” has entered the field. Discourse analytical approaches and methods have become increasingly popular among scholars dealing with forests and their governance. When consulting the growing literature, one quickly notes the inconsistent use of the terms “discourse” and “discourse analysis”. On this basis, this paper will provide (1) an overview of discourse approaches in international social and political science literature on forests, (2) identify existing trends and gaps in the literature, and (3) critically assess deficits and opportunities of existing discursive perspectives on forests and their governance. The article is based on a comprehensive survey of sixty-six journal articles, book chapters, books and online publications referring to the terms “forest” and “discourse” in the title or key words. The results suggest that forest-related discourse research may benefit from a stronger emphasis on the politics of discourse. In particular, questions of “where” and “by whom” discourses are circulated and institutionalised could provide valuable insights into forest governance. In order to arrive at these insights, however, more theoretical and methodological rigour and innovation seem to be required. Consequently, this review suggests that forest-related discourse research would benefit from (1) relating new work to the most recent discourse research conducted in different disciplines and specialisations, (2) boldly testing different available discourse lenses from political science as well as other disciplines, and (3) getting creative in adjusting those lenses (theoretically and methodologically). •This review takes stock of research on forest-related discourses across disciplines.•Results suggest a need for emphasizing the politics of discourse.•This includes questions on “where” and “by whom” discourses are institutionalized.•To explore this, more theoretical/methodological rigour and innovation are required.