The urgency of critical race theory in critical discourse studies: a case for critical race discourse analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article situates critical race discourse analysis (CRDA) as a methodological possibility for critical discourse scholars and critical race scholars curious about the ways our analyses can represent a mutually constitutive commitment between critical discourse analysis (CDA) and critical race theory (CRT). First, I detail the emergence and circulation of anti-critical race theory discourse. After offering a corrective, I engage with Ruth Wodak’s (2020) and Norman Fairclough’s (2010) invitations to reconsider how CDA can equip critical scholars to confront societal crises. Next, I detail CRDA as a framework that adds to the CDA tradition by embracing CRT as a theory inextricable from our analyses, identify existing studies that engage with CRDA, and use those studies as an entry point to characterize what CRDA contributes to the CDA program. Finally, I revisit the implications for understanding CRT as an insurgent epistemology that aligns with the commitments of critical discourse studies.