Constructing and Deconstructing the ACP Group: Actors, Strategies and Consequences for Development

Author(s): 
Publication Date: 
01 January 2007
Publisher: 
Taylor & Francis
Publication Place: 
Abingdon
Publication Language: 
EN
Appearing in: 
Geopolitics
Volume: 
12
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
635-655
DOI: 
10.1080/14650040701546095
Abstract: 

This article examines how the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) Group is constructed and deconstructed in discourse. Positioning Theory is introduced as a theoretical and analytical framework for understanding how social reality is discursively constructed. The article analyses how the ACP Group and other actors are generated and given meaning within various discursive contexts. This discourse is compared with other practices, and the positionings engendered through each are compared. The concept of discursive space is introduced as a mechanism to explain how positionings influence people's actions, and actual and potential consequences for development of the analysed discourses are discussed.