Science and technology policies in five-year development plans (Discourse analysis of the 6th program based on the approach of Laclou and Mouffe)

Because of their importance in the economic and social development of societies, science and technology policies have become one of the most important arenas of discourse conflict. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the discourse of the sixth program based on Laclau and Mouffe's approach. The studied society was all the legal articles and notes related to science and technology in the law of the sixth development plan, which were studied in full. The findings show that the central signifier of this document is "purposeful scientific innovation". It has built its symbols based on three signs: "Efficiency and modernity, privatization/popularization and knowledge-based economy". The floating sign has shown itself in the form of "collaboration and scientific participation" and "competitive performance". The null signs are "Employment", "Scientific modernization and improvement" and "Scientific productivity" which are associated with interruptions and moments of "People building", "Educational modernization and improvement" and "Islamic culture and values". The discourse area of this program is "state-centered, external dependence, reduction of deprivation and scientific neutrality" which "culture-centered/landscape-centered" discourse with its hegemonic position has marginalized conflicts and consolidated the space for its own discourse maneuver. The results of this study show that this program is moving towards quantitative goals with an emphasis on positivist and supply-oriented processes, which has made it possible to popularize science and use social capital with a serious vacuum.