THE RHETORICS OF ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS

Since the early 1980s, there has been a lively discussion about the rh etoric of economics. Ecological economists, however, so far have not t ried to incorporate this discussion into their work. This paper is a f irst step towards including the discourse on rhetoric into the self-aw areness of ecological economics. After a brief outline of what this di scourse is about, the importance of metaphors as one aspect of rhetori c is examined. Connections of the rhetorical discourse to ecological e conomics as a post-normal science are shown. It is argued that two rhe torics of ecological economics can be distinguished: internal and exte rnal rhetoric. While the former refers mostly to methodological issues , the latter is of particular importance for the political impact that ecological economics can have. Finally, some suggestions for research are made. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.