The value of discourse analysis as a methodological tool for understanding a land reform program

The negotiation and contestation of social value, authority and knowledge is intrinsic to development interventions. Discourse analysis is growing in popularity as one of the tools through which this contestation and negotiation can be explored. This paper explores the policy issues illuminated by a discourse analysis of the Land Reform Pilot Project in the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa. Specifically, it is argued that discourse analysis highlights human agency and ideological practices and in so doing reveals the construction and contestation of social value, authority and knowledge.