Science and technology in the international politics of sustainable development: an analysis of the discursive representation in the Rio+20 outcomes

Abstract

The critical discourse analysis (CDA) applied to the text “The Future We Want,” produced by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (aka Rio+20), sought to identify the discourses used in depicting the subject of science and technology in the geopolitics of sustainable development. CDA’s theoretical-methodological apparatus reveals a belief that technological innovations will be able to offer solutions for the development issues and guide political decisions toward sustainability.