Construction Of Political Identities Research Articles

The Linguistic Construction of Political Identity: the Case of Catalonia

In the last decades much research has been carried out on discourse as a form of social practice from the Critical Discourse Analysis perspective. The Vienna school of CDA led by Wodak and her associates has developed a discourse-historical approach to discourse which investigates the linguistic construction of national identities through a method of description and analysis which posits three categories –topics, strategies and linguistic devices– employed in the construction, perpetuation, transformation and dismantling of nations and national identities. Following this approach, the present paper aims to analyse the linguistic construction of Catalonia’s present and political future in a corpus of public discourse fragments produced by Catalan pro-independence leaders and activists during the so-called Catalan crisis. The analysis reveals that the linguistic construction of the Catalan present and political future relies on constructive, justification and dismantling strategies that seek to support self-determination and construe Catalonia as an independent Republic.

Demands as the black box of discourse theory: the German integration debate, demanding a ‘leading culture’ and the mainstreaming of the far-right

ABSTRACT The recent rise of the far-right ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ (AfD) in Germany has puzzled researchers. How did demands around cultural homogeneity and the need to be protected from ‘dangerous’ immigrants become acceptable in the mainstream when previously they were not? Crucially, understanding political change is paramount for discourse theorist Ernesto Laclau, who considers ‘demands’ as pivotal for the construction of political identities. Yet, the notion is underdeveloped in his writings. I discuss the aporias in Laclau’s understanding of demands and probe how far we can take Laclau in theoretically accounting for the emergence of demands. The concepts of horizon and dislocation are most helpful in this regard. I then utilise those concepts to analyse demand emergence in the ‘Leitkultur’ (leading culture) debate. I show how the horizon on which these demands are inscripted changed over the years, with a culturalistic discourse becoming dominant. There, following a dislocatory public debate of a non-fiction bestseller by career bureaucrat Thilo Sarrazin, integration was increasingly framed as problematic and foreigners needing to shed unintegratable parts of their own culture to assimilate to a German Leitkultur. I argue that acts of mainstreaming like these allowed the AfD to make their formerly radical demands seem credible.

Resisting right-wing populism in power: a comparative analysis of the Facebook activities of social movements in Italy and the UK

ABSTRACT This paper aims to present a comparative study of the civil society reaction to right-wing populism in power through social media, by looking at cases in Italy and the United Kingdom. The research question is how social movements are implementing a process of reactive political identity construction – i.e. political identification – and a political counter-strategy by opposing right-wing populism in power through their Facebook official accounts. It implements a mixed-method research design with in-depth semi-structured interviews and a two-step quantitative text analysis based on Topic Model and Dictionary Method.

Construction of Political Identity on Instagram: Unveiling the Kadrun Hashtag Movement in Indonesia's 2024 Presidential Election


 
 
 
 
 
 This scientific article investigates the construction of political identity through hashtag movements on Instagram, focusing on the "#kadrun" hashtag related to Anies Baswedan, a presidential candidate for the 2024 election in Indonesia. Using the framing analysis method by Zhong Dang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicky, the study examines the structural dimensions of political identity content by observing and analyzing the hashtag from October 3, 2022, to May 3, 2023. The results reveal three Instagram accounts actively contributing and acting as political identity buzzers, uploading 89 to 92 contents within seven months. The hashtag frames Anies Baswedan and his supporters as a radical Islamic group, seeking to establish a caliphate, and intolerant, potentially leading to political polarization based on religion, community, and ethnicity in the upcoming election. These findings hold implications for understanding the impact of social media content on political discourse and polarization, especially among young active voters who rely on Instagram as a source of information during elections.
 Highlight:
 
 
 Research Scope: The study explores the construction of political identity on social media, particularly through hashtag movements on Instagram related to the 2024 presidential candidate in Indonesia, Anies Baswedan, and the "#kadrun" hashtag.
 
 
 Framing Analysis: Utilizing the framing analysis method by Zhong Dang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicky, the research examines the structural dimensions of political identity content on Instagram, focusing on message characteristics and content design from October 3, 2022, to May 3, 2023.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The hashtag spreads messages identifying Anies Baswedan as a radical Islamic group, causing potential religious-based political polarization, as seen in the 2019 Election. Additionally, ethnic elements now contribute to polarization based on religion, community, and ethnicity in the 2024 elections.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Keyword: Political Identity, Social Media, Hashtag Movements, Instagram, Political Polarization.
 
 
 
 
 

“A radical point of view”: The discursive construction of the political identity of student activists

Recently there has been renewed interest in the intersection of identity and epistemics in social interaction, yet epistemics has still rarely been analyzed in political identity construction. This paper combines research on identity from a sociocultural linguistic perspective with epistemics using Conversation Analysis. The focus here is on understanding how a small group of student activists construct their shared political identities through epistemic stances towards their academic majors and career goals. Through a discourse analytic study of conversational data among these activists, I demonstrate the validity of the relationality principle of identity in accounting for how identities are constructed as related to one another. Furthermore, I examine the relational process of authentication in epistemic stances to legitimate claims to knowledge regarding political and academic identities, as well as alignment of stances in building group solidarity and shared political identity.

TO THE QUESTION OF ETHNIC AND CIVIL POLITICAL IDENTITY OF CITIZENS OF MODERN KAZAKHSTAN

Aim. To analyze the civil component in the political identity of modern Kazakhstan.Methodology. The civil ("Kazakh") and ethnic ("Kazakh") models of the formation of the political identity of the Republic of Kazakhstan are analyzed. The main approaches were constructivism and a systematic approach, which were used in relation to the analysis of political practice of modern Kazakhstan. The method of political modeling was also used.Results. The study revealed that in the process of constructing civil identity in Kazakhstan, a national myth is being created that employs several universal historical and political imperatives: the assertion of the the people and the Kazakh statehood’ antiquity, the imperative of the "age-old traditions" of the people, spiritual colonialism, and autarky. In the course of the study, the problems of the formation of a civil Kazakh nation were identified: the substitution of certain national components with ethnic and national ones).Research implications. The results of the study can be used both in the comparative analysis of the nation-building processes and the construction of political identity in other countries of the former USSR, as well as in predictive research regarding the political development of Kazakhstan.

Algorithmic Political Bias—an Entrenchment Concern

This short commentary on Peters (Philosophy & Technology 35, 2022) identifies the entrenchment of political positions as one additional concern related to algorithmic political bias, beyond those identified by Peters. First, it is observed that the political positions detected and predicted by algorithms are typically contingent and largely explained by “political tribalism”, as argued by Brennan (2016). Second, following Hacking (1999), the social construction of political identities is analyzed and it is concluded that algorithmic political bias can contribute to such identities. Third, following Nozick (1989), it is argued that purist political positions may stand in the way of the pursuit of all worthy values and goals to be pursued in the political realm and that to the extent that algorithmic political bias entrenches political positions, it also hinders this healthy “zigzag of politics”.

Gender identity: Deconstructions and reconstructions for approaches in health / Identidade de gênero: Desconstruções e reconstruções para abordagens na saúde

Objective: to elucidate publications and indicate reflections that describe and discuss the "state of the art", involving trans people and important agendas of the transsexualization process in health. Method: narrative review, with literature published in books and scientific evidence, as well as information on bills, resolutions and decrees, with reflections on the main historical perspectives, epistemological and contemporary aspects involving transgender people. Development: gender identity contemplates the essentialist, constructivist and post-structuralist perspective. In the post-structuralist perspective, gender would be a mechanism through which the notions of masculine and feminine are built, to be a woman is to become a woman insofar as the body is forced to correspond to a historical model of woman, materializing itself even within certain conditions, limits and possibilities delimited by culture. Over the decades, some rights have been achieved with the emergence of new forms of recognition of different gender identities. In the United States, in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, one of the “Gender Not Listed Here” questions is already being considered. In Germany, the option "diverse" as a gender category, in certificates and other documents, is already part of the routine, including highlighting that binary designations would be discriminatory and violate guarantees of individual freedom. In Austria, for example, there is the option to register as a non-binary person since 2018, through the European Convention on Human Rights. In Japan, the gender considered X refers to a non-binary identity, known as an alternative to man and to woman. In Australia, the option of gender, in the passport, has already made possible some alternatives since 2003. In Brazil, some advances in ensuring respect for the gender identity of trans people can be highlighted. In 2018, a decision of the Federal Supreme Court authorized the change of the civil registry name and biological sex, without the need for surgery or a psychiatric report, dispensing with the opening of legal proceedings, and the procedure can be carried out directly at the notary's office. Science-based health is also a relevant issue and over the past 10 years, health research involving gender identity has increased significantly. This is inevitably reflected in care protocols, materials provided by the SUS, consensus and clinical guidelines. There are important data on the cardiometabolic vulnerability of the trans population, dermatoses, bone susceptibility, among other demands, due to hormone. In addition, health professionals, in most cases, are not trained with this type of content and the situation follows a vicious cycle. Final considerations: it is interesting to note how access to healthcare technologies, such as transgenitalization surgery or hormone, influence transgender identities, research about the construction of political identities, movements, highlighting the influence of social indicators of class and generation in the conflicts related to the identities of the transsexual woman and the non-binary trans. The text brings fundamental reflections and allows health professionals to acquire and update their knowledge on this topic in a short period of time.

Transforming Unitary States into Federations: Path-Dependent Construction of Political Identities in Belgium and Lebanon

Abstract The theory of congruence in comparative federalism holds that institutional design will, eventually, reflect societal divisions by transferring central powers to new, autonomous entities. While this model helps to understand why many divided societies adopt federalism, it cannot explain why only certain unitary states transform into federal ones while others do not. We use a historical institutionalism approach to identify the critical junctures in the trajectory of two prominent plural polities, Belgium and Lebanon. We suggest that the politicization of identities during initial stages of state-building plays a major role in the transformation of a unitary state into a federation—which occurs in the former but not in the latter of our cases. The current contrast in both consociational democracies is explained here as a legacy of the late nineteenth century, which set in motion decisive logics of public governance that direct institutional dynamics until today.

Social media time, identity narratives and the construction of political biographies

ABSTRACT The question of identity narrative is at the core of the interaction between social movements and temporalities. In this paper, we draw on long-term qualitative research amongst activists engaged in Italian social movements and argue that identity narratives are often the result of a complex mnemonic, contradictory and open-ended process that spans through a life-time of engagement with multiple collectives. We then question whether the use of social media reshape these dynamics. The analysis shows that the construction of identity narratives on social media tends to take place with knowledge of the complexity and overlaps that characterise these processes online. Nevertheless, the temporality of social media, based on immediacy, archival and predictive time, challenges the unpredictable, contradictory, and open-ended nature of political identity construction offline. The need to escape the hegemonic temporalities of social media poses new challenges to activists in their creative agency.

Post-Soviet Revolutions and Post-Revolution Discourses: Explaining the Construction of Political Identities in Post-Rose Revolution Georgia and Post-Velvet Revolution Armenia

The 2018 “Velvet Revolution” in Armenia has renewed scholarly interest in post-Soviet revolution studies. This paper explores the core narratives underlying post-Rose Revolution and post-Velvet Revolution identity construction in Georgian and Armenian political discourses. More specifically, it examines the core narratives employed by the Georgian and Armenian revolution leaders Mikheil Saakashvili and Nikol Pashinyan in constructing the political identities of “New Georgia” and “New Armenia.” The findings suggest that the core narratives dominating Saakashvili’s discourse on post-revolution Georgia are as follows: “democratic Georgia” and “laboratory of democratic reforms,” “stereotype breaker,” “European Georgia,” “peaceful Georgia,” “powerful Georgia” and “security contributor,” determined to homecoming to Europe. Pashinyan’s discourse has revolved around the notion of “proud Armenians,” who established “people’s government” capable of carrying out an “economic revolution.” In contrast to Saakashvili’s emphasis on escaping post-Soviet geopolitical space and gaining centrality in the EU-driven socio-political order, Pashinyan’s discourse does not suggest foreign policy U-turns. It concludes that while the 2003 “Rose Revolution” marked fundamental shifts in self-other conceptions within the Georgian political discourse, the post-revolution Armenian discourse has not experienced dramatic identity-driven transformations.

Ideology, (Mis)perceptions and (Re)construction of Political Identities: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Imran Khan's Political Speeches

Ideology, (Mis)perceptions and (Re)construction of Political Identities: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Imran Khan's Political Speeches

Ideology, (Mis)perceptions and (Re)construction of Political Identities: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Imran Khan’s Political Speeches

This study examines the persuasive strategies of Imran Khan's political discourse. It also highlights the covert ideological practices as they are embedded in his political speeches. The analysis is based on the theoretical perspective of Fairclough and Van Dijk. This study analyses the linguistic elements and contextual facets to find hidden ideologies. The findings suggest Khan use of multiple strategies to get the political power, and promote his ideology by urging the urban youth and less-privileged part of society to play a role. Moreover linguistic analysis prove Khan's claim to be (un)conventional as he frequently addresses and acknowledges women support for political activism.

Constructing and de-constructing the European political identity: the contradictory logic of the EU’s institutional system

The article investigates the forms that political identities have assumed in the EU through the functioning of its institutions. On the basis of the analytical distinction between supranational and intergovernmental institutional settings, the article shows that such a dual decision-making system has generated a contradictory logic with regard to the construction of political identity. If the supranational institutions have aimed to construct a European political identity with state-like features, the intergovernmental institutions have instead operated to de-construct that identity in order to preserve the national identities of the member states. With the multiple post-Lisbon Treaty crises, not only has the contrast between the two concepts increased, but the competition among national identities within the intergovernmental setting has triggered their transformation into nationalist claims.

The Exemplary Life of Сarl Hagenbeck, the Animal Trader and Organizer of the “Human Zoos”, in the Soviet Editions of the 1920s — late 1950s: Anti-Colonial Struggle, Scientific Progress, Spectacular Culture and the Construction of Political Identity

The heyday of ethnic exhibitions in Europe and the USA was from the mid-19th century until the end of the 1930s, when the development of ethnographic cinema, as well as political events related to World War II, the Holocaust, and decolonization made such exhibitions unpopular. In particular, the demonstrations of “savages” in zoos, as if anticipating the reduction of people to an animal state in concentration camps, have become an odious example of the inhumanity of colonialism. In the USSR, such exhibitions were consistently condemned, which was consonant with the general anti-colonial rhetoric of the Soviet government since the 1920s. It is all the more surprising that the USSR published books by one of the main organizers of the "human zoos" Carl Hagenbeck. The article discusses the features of representing the activities of Hagenbeck in the USSR by the example of the 1957 publication of his book “On Beasts and Men”. Both the Soviet preface to the book and the illustrations show that Hagenbek’s activity was interpreted mainly positively, and even more so, as a worthy example for educating the young generation of Soviet citizens. An appeal to the young reader, giving the book a pedagogical character, distinguishes the 1957 edition from both the pre-revolutionary edition of 1912 and the early German editions of the book of Hagenbeck. The fact that a new translation was made for the 1957 edition testifies to the special significance attached to this book. A study of Hagenbeck's reception reveals how, despite the anti-colonial foreign policy rhetoric, elements of colonial culture were reproduced and normalized in Soviet society in the second half of the 1950s through the discourse of popular science, becoming part of the political identity of Soviet people. Attention is also paid to the economic contacts of the USSR with the Hagenbeck company in the interwar period, which made it possible to make export of animals a source of significant foreign exchange earnings, as well as to the importance of Hagenbeck's approaches for Soviet circus art, which also contributed to a positive perception of the activities of this German businessman.

State, Movement, People: Representation and Race in the Construction of Political Identity

At the beginning of his Constitutional Theory, Carl Schmitt lays out an understanding of a constitution in which it does not consist of a set of laws that would form a unified system of norms that govern state procedures. Rather, he insists that a state does not simply have a constitution but is the constitution in the sense that the constitution consists not just of the laws but of “the concrete manner of existence that is a given with every political unity.”1 Since the existence of political unity is the major achievement, any situation of such unity implies a corresponding…

Materiales para una estética de la marginalidad: pornomiseria, signos marginales y subjetividad

El presente artículo explora algunos principios teóricos que puedan servir como contribución para una posible estética de la marginalidad. Para ello, tras delimitar lo que se comprenderá por marginalidad en el contexto de la teorización latinoamericana reciente, se abordará, en primer lugar, aquello que los realizadorescolombianos Luis Ospina y Carlos Mayolo denominaronpornomiseria, en tanto noción epistémico-crítica fundamental. Más adelante, se tratará la cuestión de los signos marginales y su recepción a luz de la experiencia en cierta territorialidad del Chile contemporáneo, específicamente en periferias de la ciudad de Santiago. Finalmente, se concentrará en las implicancias que el proyecto de una estética de la marginalidad tiene para la construcción de identidades políticas This article explores some theoretical principles that can serve as a contribution to a possible aesthetics of marginality. For this, the information refers to the marginality in the context of the recent Latin American theory, and it is addressed, in the first place, what the Colombian filmmakers Luis Ospina and Carlos Mayolo called pornomisery, as a fundamental epistemic-critical notion. Later, the issue of marginal signs and their reception will be addressed in light of the experience in a certain territoriality of contemporary Chile, specifically, in the peripheries of Santiago. Finally, it will focus on the implications that the project of an aesthetics of marginality has for the construction of political identities

Not the party of the welfare state: The boundaries of the concept of the welfare state in the construction of political identities across the British press

Not the party of the welfare state: The boundaries of the concept of the welfare state in the construction of political identities across the British press

Surviving finitude: Survival as a constructed foundation of identity

The article deals with the biopolitical underpinnings of the Estonian national identity construction which is analysed by concentrating on public media coverage of (1) the Estonian Population and Housing Census 2011; and (2) the passing of the Registered Partnership Act in 2014. The object of analysis is the discourse – or the manner of speaking – that becomes apparent in the discussion of these cases. It is called the discourse of survival, since the main aim of national identity construction is to ensure the perseverance and preservation of this identity. This enables us to insert political identity construction into a biopolitical framework in which the political subject is understood as a fundamentally finite living being. In conceptualizing biopolitical finitude and the accompanying need of survival as the logic of identity construction, the article suggests the semiotic logic of this type of identity process as auto-communicative solidification of identity that has a presentist temporal structure.

The heritage of Brexit: Roles of the past in the construction of political identities through social media

This article assesses the role of the pre-modern past in the construction of political identities relating to the UK’s membership in the European Union by examining how materials and ideas from Iron Age to Early Medieval Britain and Europe were leveraged by those who discussed the topic of Brexit in over 1.4 million messages published in dedicated Facebook pages. Through a combination of data-intensive and qualitative investigations of textual data, we identify the ‘heritages’ invoked in support of pro- or anti-Brexit sentiments. We show how these heritages are centred around myths of origins, resistance and collapse that incorporate tensions and binary divisions . We highlight the strong influence of past expert practices in shaping such deeply entrenched dualistic thinking and reflect over the longue durée agency of heritage expertise. This is the first systematic study of public perceptions and experience of the past in contemporary society undertaken through digital heritage research fuelled by big data. As such, the article contributes novel methodological approaches and substantially advances theory in cultural heritage studies. It is also the first published work to analyse the role of heritage in the construction of political identities in relation to Brexit via extensive social research.