Introduction: discourse analysis and policy discourse

As introduction to a collection on policy discourses and patterns of argumentation in international development, this paper clarifies different meanings of `discourse' and `discourse analysis', including as applied in development studies, and explains why effective discourse analysis requires systematic attention to both text and context, based on serious methods and theories. It then outlines important areas and current work in policy discourse analysis, including with reference to metaphors, framing, and policy narratives; and comments on main emphases in a set of papers which present methodical approaches of various types, for examining a range of discourses.