The politics of sustainability in New Zealand: A critical evaluation of environmental policy, practice and prospects through a case study of the dairy industry
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis examines the politics of sustainability in New Zealand through a case study of the dairy industry. New Zealand’s ‘clean and green’ image was bolstered by the passing of the Resource Management Act (RMA) (1991) to much international acclaim. Yet, since its adoption, the country has seen a dramatic expansion and intensification of dairy farming which has resulted in significant environmental decline. The thesis seeks to answer why this has occurred despite the provisions of New Zealand’s apparent world-leading environmental sustainability legislation. The thesis examines the history of agricultural practice and environmental legislation in New Zealand, contemporary environmental policy and its implementation, dairy industry responses to the challenge of sustainability, and a lakes restoration initiative. Informed by a critical discourse analysis approach, the thesis developed a discourse analytic framework to identify technological, ecological modernisation and sustainable development discourses within environmental policies and processes and dairy industry practice and explore the implications of these discourses. The framework is also applied to the analysis of stakeholder interviews, a Q-sort survey, and texts from a variety of governmental and nongovernmental organisations. The analysis offers insights into the disjuncture between the intentions of the RMA and actual environmental outcomes. The thesis found that policy practice was dominated by the ecological modernisation discourse. Despite the RMA being underpinned by a sustainable development normative framework, in practice the ecological modernisation discourse has informed the implementation mechanisms and social processes required by government and the dairy industry to realise primarily economic goals. The ecological modernisation discourse has enabled continued support for a productivist and utilitarian approach to the environment. The research also found there were small-scale instances of a …
abstract: This thesis examines the politics of sustainability in New Zealand through a case study of the dairy industry. New Zealand’s ‘clean and green’ image was bolstered by the passing of the Resource Management Act (RMA) (1991) to much international acclaim. Yet, since its adoption, the country has seen a dramatic expansion and intensification of dairy farming which has resulted in significant environmental decline. The thesis seeks to answer why this has occurred despite the provisions of New Zealand’s apparent world-leading environmental sustainability legislation. The thesis examines the history of agricultural practice and environmental legislation in New Zealand, contemporary environmental policy and its implementation, dairy industry responses to the challenge of sustainability, and a lakes restoration initiative. Informed by a critical discourse analysis approach, the thesis developed a discourse analytic framework to identify technological, ecological modernisation and sustainable development discourses within environmental policies and processes and dairy industry practice and explore the implications of these discourses. The framework is also applied to the analysis of stakeholder interviews, a Q-sort survey, and texts from a variety of governmental and nongovernmental organisations. The analysis offers insights into the disjuncture between the intentions of the RMA and actual environmental outcomes. The thesis found that policy practice was dominated by the ecological modernisation discourse. Despite the RMA being underpinned by a sustainable development normative framework, in practice the ecological modernisation discourse has informed the implementation mechanisms and social processes required by government and the dairy industry to realise primarily economic goals. The ecological modernisation discourse has enabled continued support for a productivist and utilitarian approach to the environment. The research also found there were small-scale instances of a …
author: Wright, Jeanette Marie
keywords: Sustainability, Dairy Industry New Zealand, Resource Managment Act, Critical Discourse Analysis, Environmental Policy, Q-methodology, Sustainable Development, Ecological Modernisation, Case Study, Comparative analysis
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/4c2a08a7-4e4e-4b98-b594-634feb5f5744/download
date published: 2015
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:27Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Waikato