Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Calnan S.;Davoren M.;Perry I.;O’Donovan Ó.
2018
June
Contemporary Drug Problems
Ireland’s Public Health (Alcohol) Bill: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Industry and Public Health Perspectives on the Bill
Validated
()
Optional Fields
alcohol alcohol policy availability critical theory public health sociology
45
2
107
126
© 2018, The Author(s) 2018. The proposal to introduce a Public Health (Alcohol) Bill marks a significant development in Ireland’s alcohol policymaking landscape. While the Bill has generated support from public health advocates, it has also raised considerable opposition, particularly from industry. This analysis aims to examine the debate around this Bill using the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis and applying Carol Bacchi’s What’s the Problem Represented To Be critical mode of analysis. A key objective is to analyze the current prevailing representations of alcohol and its regulation in Ireland but also to consider what they reveal about the underlying governing rationality in relation to alcohol regulation. In particular, it questions whether the Bill signals a shift in the official governing rationality regarding alcohol regulation. The analysis illustrates how alcohol is problematized in markedly different ways in the debates and how such debates are often underpinned by multifaceted elements. Despite such differences, it argues that there are still signs of a neoliberal rhetoric emerging within the public health discourses, raising a question over whether the Bill and its supporting discourses signal a paradigmatic shift or are more indicative of a policy embracing hybrid forms of rule.
0091-4509
10.1177/0091450918768284
Grant Details