On Wednesday (13/5), the Media and Cultural Studies Program (KBM) at Universitas Gadjah Mada collaborated with the Master’s Program in Communication Science (MIKOM) at Universitas Islam Indonesia to organize a workshop titled Workshop on Doing Discourse Network Analysis (DNA) and Discourse Coalition Framework (DCF). The workshop featured Prof. Dr. Frans J. Wijsen, emeritus professor at Radboud University, the Netherlands, who currently also serves as an adjunct professor at Universitas Gadjah Mada, as the main speaker.
The workshop discussed two discourse analysis approaches: Discourse Network Analysis (DNA), developed by Philip Leifeld, and Discourse Coalition Framework (DCF), developed by Maarten Hajer. In his presentation, Prof. Wijsen explained the fundamental assumptions, key concepts, and research procedures of both approaches.
In explaining DCF, Prof. Wijsen noted that the framework was influenced by the ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein, J. L. Austin, and Michel Foucault. DCF is based on the assumption that language is constitutive and never neutral. Some of the main concepts within DCF include discourse, storyline, discourse coalition, discourse structuration, and discourse institutionalization. Because language is not neutral, individuals may perceive and interpret issues differently. Through this process of meaning-making, an issue can be constructed as a public problem and may even influence the formation of public policy. As an example, Prof. Wijsen discussed Hajer’s illustration of dying trees, which were not merely understood as a natural phenomenon but were linked to the issue of acid rain. This particular interpretation later contributed to the emergence of public policies concerning industrial pollution in the UK.
After discussing DCF, Prof. Wijsen continued with an explanation of DNA, a method frequently used to map discursive relations that produce particular representations. Some of the key terms in DNA include political actor, policy statement, political discourse, and discourse network. In DNA research, scholars begin by coding policy statements, then measuring the relationships among actors and the strength of those relationships. Researchers subsequently analyze whether actors support or oppose particular policies before visualizing these relations within discourse networks or frameworks.
One of the motivations behind organizing this workshop was the observation that research in Indonesia often employs DNA and DCF without applying the methodologies appropriately. Moreover, the two methods are frequently combined within a single study without a clear justification for why such a combination is necessary. Therefore, the workshop raised a central question: can DNA and DCF be combined, and if so, what theoretical framework can connect them? Through this workshop, participants were expected to develop a deeper understanding of how to apply DNA and DCF properly, while also becoming more critical and thoughtful in using these methods in research.
