Political Discourse Research Articles

Social contextual effects, gender, and Brexit: how political discussion networks are gendered and the consequences for referendum vote choice

ABSTRACT In the UK, despite continuing, if ever-changing, patterns of social, economic, and political inequality between men and women, gender differences in vote choice have emerged slowly and are present only in younger generations [Campbell, R., and R. Shorrocks. 2021. “Finally Rising with the Tide? Gender and the Vote in the 2019 British Elections.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 31 (4): 488–507. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2021.1968412]; at the 2016 referendum only men and women aged 18–24 showed a gender gap [Fowler, C. 2023. “Gender-age Gaps in Euroscepticism and Vote Choice at the United Kingdom’s 2016 Referendum on EU Membership.” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 13691481221110764]. This paper proposes that this lack of a gender gap is, in fact, one of the most important unexplained features of the referendum and subsequent elections and offers social contextual effects as a possible explanation for why. This paper examines such social contextual effects by using British Election Study Internet Panel data to investigate differences in men’s and women’s reported networks of political discussants and how having different types of political discussant (by party identification and by relationship type) was associated with Brexit vote choice. It shows that political discussant networks do vary by gender and generation in a way which could help us to understand gender-generation gaps in the UK and that, even with substantial controls for a person’s characteristics, values, and attitudes, individuals with a Eurosceptic/Europhile political discussant were correspondingly more likely to be a Leave/Remain supporter.

Arrival Infrastructuring at a Southern European gate: public action and spaces in Palermo, Italy

<p>This paper investigates how the interplay of different actors has shaped the arrival of newcomers in the city of Palermo in Southern Italy. The recent debate on arrival infrastructures is currently developing in central Europe, where arrival has been experienced as part of the so-called reception crises starting from 2013-15. Within this framework, southern European contexts represent interesting fields of observation, both for the way arrivals deployed there – often linked to transit – and for the type of public action that has been mobilized there. Here, arrivals are often linked to further departures and are uncertain in nature; infrastructuring processes involve a wide range of in/formal actors, which can be inscribed into a Southern (European) definition of public action.</p><p>Stemming on two pieces of urban studies research, the work unpacks how different actors channeled newcomers’ arrivals between 2015 and 2020. It highlights the interplay of a robust pro-hospitality political discourse, a broad – and partly informal – public action around it, everyday infrastructuring practices, and how they spatialized into diverse arrival spaces. In Palermo, public action takes roots in a specific urban an historical trajectory of the city, through actions and spaces that often lie between formality and informality and that often also reveal resourceful aspects. Methodologically, the work builds on qualitative methods and fieldwork, documents and discourses analysis, with significant use of mapping and spatialization.</p>

Gry interdyskursywne w rosyjskojęzycznych parodiach politycznych

Political parodies transcend the prevailing social hierarchies, opening the field for polemics with government representatives. They also provide a space for the contamination of two or more distant discourses. In their texts, parodists refer to the rules of creating texts and utterances of political discourse, while modifying their selected elements by means of interdiscursive games. The purpose of the study is to define the category of the interdiscursive game and to analyze its strategies based on the example of contemporary Russian parodies on political issues published on YouTube. The study examines interdiscursive games grouped according to the following classification: genre convention games, intertextual games, games at the level of different linguistic means, structural games involving extralinguistic signs. As a result of the analysis, parodic interdiscursive games were divided into two categories: first-degree references and further references. The references of the first degree consist in transferring the main imitated discourse to the discourse of the comic. The second type of games concerns parodic references to other discourses that are introduced to the main imitated discourse. Interdiscursive games of both types help to discover the mechanisms that shape the political discourse. Thus, parody, using borrowed schemes, reveals those meanings which were not expressed explicitly in the original texts and utterances.

Undoing conceptual languages? Epistemic ambivalence as self-reflexive agency in Kaouther Adimi’s Des pierres dans ma poche (2015)

Migration writing has often been defined and read in relation to a writer’s own experiences and migration story. This has been principally visible in political and media discourses, where writers are co-opted by, indeed place themselves into, the political and media arena as a means of promoting their work. However, even when focusing on lesser-known writers not subject to the same levels of political and media visibility, literary critics have tended to align forms of a character’s agency with that of their author’s own ‘journey’ from the place of ‘departure’ to that of an ‘arrival’. In an analysis of the Algerian writer Kaouther Adimi’s 2015 novel, Des pierres dans ma poche , I ask how writers might be seen to theorize their own epistemic ambivalence as a form of self-reflexive agency, in order to tell a more complicated story about the contemporary movement of people and texts across (post)colonial borders, with a critical and self-reflexive eye to the coloniality of the conceptual languages of the borders, boundaries, and knowledge systems critics use to describe and understand writers, texts, and their worlds.

The Possibility of Trade-Based Cooperation among Horn Countries that Advances Political Stability and Prosperity

This review paper tries to explore, notwithstanding integral incongruities and contradictions, an alternative to conflict rules-based trade cooperation between horn countries. In order to secure reciprocal advantages and shared prosperity, it also recognizes the importance of building and upholding frameworks for international relations, the liberal international order (LIO), often referred to as the rules-based International order (RBIO), for the aforementioned rights of land-locked states and safeguarding the transit states sovereignty. Furthermore, facing a cooperation that genuinely adheres to international order in which both sides of the divide are bound by it, thus, reinforces that order to preserve the conditions needed for mutual peace and prosperity. On that note, the recent political discourse triggered by the land-locked Ethiopian endeavour to access the shores of Somalia to be RBIO which both sides abide by, just as land-locked African countries access the ports of littoral inhabitant ones, proceeds both sides’ interests rather than a one based on hegemonic or exploitative ambitions. Penultimately, understanding and advancing a mutual benefit, adhering to the rules-based trade cooperation between both sides, puts the foundations of an ecosystem that binds together individual nation-states to another, as what happens in one country can have a significant and unanticipated antagonistic impact in the realms of economy and security. Finally, International laws, regulations, and standards, along with the institutions that regulate them, are what gave rise to the United Nations and its charter, which member states ratified to express their desire to join the global community. As a result, all of the Horn countries' members are required to abide by the core values and clauses found in that charter

A critical discourse analysis of Chinese diplomatic speeches on China-US relations

Diplomatic discourse embodies the political concepts and stances of a government, from a critical perspective, it may imbed the power and ideology of the particular government. Previous studies have primarily focused on foreign political discourse, but few on Chinese diplomatic discourse especially the English texts, which are vital for the international community to accurately comprehend China’s diplomatic concepts. To fill the research gap, this study critically examined the English transcripts of six speeches on China-US relations by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi based on Fairclough’s three-dimensional model (1995). The findings revealed that by manipulating various language tactics such as China-related agents, “We-group” pronouns, modality resources with low/medium values, and intertextuality resources with positive/negative implications, the Chinese diplomat tried to construct an authority-driven discourse with a persuasive nature, meanwhile, to frame a positive-self and a negative-others image. All these facilitated the speaker to strive for “power to discourse” for China, convince and control his intended audience to share the same beliefs. It was also found that Chinese diplomacy has been greatly influenced by the philosophy of Confucianism, China hence takes a “Confucian approach to diplomacy”. Besides, Chinese discourse always safeguards its development path and the sole leadership of the CPC. From this sense, the power and ideologies the discourse tried to propagate are in fact in the hands of the CPC.

Critical Consciousness, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Public Health Education

Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing a significant shift in political discourse surrounding Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The current government, under the guise of ending ‘race-based’ policies and reducing bureaucracy, is proposing changes that threaten to erode the rights and protections of tāngata whenua [Indigenous people of the land]. While the coalition government asserts its commitment to improving outcomes for all New Zealanders, the changes represent a direct assault on Māori that will disproportionately and negatively impact Māori communities. In this political climate, the role of education becomes even more critical. As educators in public health, our commitment to uphold the provisions and principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to foster understanding is unwavering and more pressing than ever. In this opinion piece, we argue that embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi meaningfully throughout our curriculum is not just beneficial but essential.

The communist empty signifier: the Australian League of Rights and the Voice to Parliament referendum

ABSTRACT In 2023, voters across Australia resoundingly rejected the Constitu-tional institution of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Among several claims made by vote no campaigners against this institution, a text published in the 1980s by the notorious extreme right organization, The Australian League of Rights, surfaced. The central claim of this text, titled Red Over Black, is that Aboriginal claims for justice and land rights are a communist conspiracy. In the lead-up to the referendum, the campaign to vote no echoed this claim. Drawing upon the Laclauian Discourse Analysis, this paper considers how this signifier, ‘communist,’ continues to resonate in political campaigns in Australia. My claim is that the foundations for this continued resonance emerge in enduring reactionary organizations such as the Australian League of Rights, which was founded in the 1940s. The paper thus outlines how the League imagines the communist conspiracy and explains how this conspiracy remains embedded in political discourse today.

BRITAIN’S STRIVING FOR GREATNESS:ITS REFLECTION IN LANGUAGE AND POLITICS

This paper is an interdisciplinary study of British political discourse. It attempts to examine how British greatness emerged and developed over the centuries. Changes in the official use of British terminology are highlighted as a reflection of dwindling historical greatness: the British Empire > The British Commonwealth (1931); The British Commonwealth > The Commonwealth (1949); Great Britain > Britain (UK for short). The idea of British greatness flourished during the Brexit period (2016–2020). Special attention is paid to stylistic changes in Brexit discourses, reflecting political events and developments. My analysis discloses the role of frequent creative use of phraseological units, e. g., a leap in the dark, to eat one’s cake and have it, to kick the can down the road etc. It offers insight into sustained creative use of metaphor as a reflection of painful and tortuous processes. I rely on findings of cognitive linguistics on thought and language [Gibbs 1999: 16–23].This paper aims to explore the notion of British greatness, its origin and development over centuries, and the role it has played in Brexit-related events and processes. The study focuses on the interplay of history, politics and language, illustrating how figurative expressions are ingrained in a nation’s cultural fabric and linguistic landscape.

Political participation and digital communications of Russians after the start of the SMO: features and main forms

The article is devoted to identifying key changes in the practices of political participation of Russian citizens during the period of a Special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, caused, among other things, by the transformation of public political discourse and the digital environment. Analyzing the phenomenon of social consolidation in the conditions of ITS, key models of political participation and changes in media consumption of Russians over the past two years, the author concludes that after February 24, 2022, a certain transformation of public discourse and structure of media consumption, as well as related practices of political participation of Russians, took place in Russia. There is a differentiation of the socially active part of the population into two unequal groups: on the one hand, a dissenting protest minority, whose main form of political participation and "statements" were emigration or spontaneous protests; on the other hand, a consolidated patriotic majority expressing support for the activities of the country's leadership through traditional as well as new forms of participation: charity, volunteering, "pro-government" electoral behavior, information and campaigning work. It is also noted that the prevailing practices of political participation due to the use of digital technologies today are volunteer activities (including "virtual volunteering"), protest political participation, as well as conventional practices of electoral participation using remote electronic voting technologies.

Is He 和 an accurate term to express harmony: Tong 同 as another viable option

ABSTRACT Contemporary scholarships on various accounts of the concept of harmony in Chinese philosophy have produced fruitful outcomes by examining the term he. A standard use of he to account for harmony comes from the Analects, and this account sets up disjunctions not just between he and tong but also between harmony and tong. Such disjunctions are even more conspicuous in the political discourses from the Zuozhuan and Guoyu, and hence, has led scholars to overlook the more nuanced resonances between tong, he, and harmony that can be identified from other canonical texts, such as in shangtong of the Mozi, in hetong of the Guanzi, and in datong of the Liji. This article aims to present nuanced relations between harmony, he, and tong, and proposes tong as another viable option to express harmony, thereby correcting the imbalance that the predominant scholarships recognize he and neglect tong.

Иррациональные начала политики в зеркале общественнополитической мысли (От Древней Греции к современности и дальше)

This article attempts to study the problem of the influence of irrational factors on politics and its reflection in the space of socio-political thought. Having started by identifying theoretical models of understanding the irrational in politics, the author fixes the theoretical and methodological framework, which is used by default when mastering the subject, and subsequently wonders: how else can the irrational be included in the sphere of political analysis and modelling? The author uses the texts of ancient Greek thinkers as the starting point. On their basis she reconstructs the basic set of approaches that form a conventional model to understand the role of the irrational in politics, and then highlights several features of the ancient discourse about the irrational. Firstly, this is the generative and teleological function of the irrational in connection with political reality: ancient thinkers primarily associated with irrational principles such matters as the origin of wars, power, law and the state, as well as the goals of political development. Secondly, the irrational factor limits the space of political subjectivity and, more specifically, free choice for a person and a citizen, because it is in the irrational field that the “last argument” is located. Thirdly, this is the trend towards the transition from metaphysics to psychology. Further analysis shows that this theoretical trajectory is preserved and consolidated within the framework of Western European political science discourse. Having established that the ancient Greek model of understanding the irrational is reproduced not only in discourse but also in practice, the author formulates an important question for political science: how productive are reflections that derive recommendations for socio-political coexistence from certain psychological human qualities or arbitrarily interpreted divine revelations? — and thereby invites the scientific community to revise classical approaches and to have an active dialogue within the topic. She proposes the concept of parallel discourses — verbal and non-verbal — as an alternative theoretical and methodological framework for the scientific study of irrational factors in politics.

Профессиональная коммуникация экспертов-гуманитариев стран СНГ: основные геополитические векторы и предпочтительные форматы

Difficult and controversial, with setbacks, the process of reintegration of the CIS countries is largely failing in the humanitarian sphere. Humanitarian communications in the field of education, science, culture, art, etc. have long remained on the periphery of the attention of political elites of the new independent states, or the elites even deliberately hampered them. Only in recent years, due to the revealed high conflict potential of the factor of value-based orientation of the population (“identity wars”) and the increasing incidence of cultural clashes, this component of integration started to be included in the Russian political discourse. The article is devoted to the study of professional communications between experts in the field of humanities from six CIS countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The study is based on the expert survey conducted jointly by the International Non-Profit Association of Research Companies “Eurasian Monitor” and MGIMO University. Based on the experts' responses, the Communication Orientation Index (COI) was designed, which allowed to identify priority geopolitical vectors of interaction for the countries under consideration. According to the COI values, some of the CIS countries included in the analysis have similar communication profiles. Russia and Belarus demonstrate a high degree of self-orientation (however, Belarus also shows orientation toward Russia). Armenia and Azerbaijan are more oriented toward the EU and North America. Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are located between these two poles. Among the factors influencing the COI values, the authors emphasize the role of the financial factor. According to their conclusion, the creation of funds like Russian Science Foundation, designed to finance international research projects and activities in the Northern Eurasian region, is one of the most important conditions for developing professional communication between specialists in the field of humanities in CIS countries.

A Corpus Study of Brexit Political Discourse: Exploring Modality through Lexical Modals

This paper aims to analyse the lexical modals used in the political speeches given by Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn during the final months of the Brexit process. This study explores whether lexical choice shows the politicians’ commitment to their constituents, particularly to determine which lexical modals each politician uses and which semantic implication(s) these modals convey. The study is descriptive-interpretative and uses the corpus-assisted discourse studies approach. It contributes to research on modality in the English language by examining parts of speech other than (semi)auxiliary modal verbs. As the corpus analysis shows, lexical modals are a prominent resource employed by politicians to present facts to their audience.

The Position and Political Discourse of Russian Parties in Latvia and Estonia in the New Geopolitical Reality

The study analyses the position and political discourse of Russian parties in Latvia and Estonia in the context of the special military operation in Ukraine. The analysis is conducted along the lines of interaction of Russian parties with one another, as well as with the government, the Russian diaspora and Russia. The empirical basis of the study is the data of the central election commissions of Latvia and Estonia. The speeches of Russian party leaders about the special military operation are also analysed. The main differences in the representation of the ethnic component of the discourse in the preelection programmes were revealed. Based on this, conclusions are drawn about the different degree of ethnic identity of parties as a criterion reflecting the degree of positioning of a political force as a representative of the interests of a national minority. It was recorded that Russian parties are characterised by different rhetoric regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Some parties preferred silence or neutrality, while the largest Russian parties in the 2000s (“Harmony” and the Estonian Centre Party) chose a hostile stance towards the Russian government. This fact together with the low representation of the ethnic component in their programmes was an important factor that significantly reduced their electoral support in regions with Russian population and in the country. At the same time, the process of fragmentation of the Russian electorate is taking place in the countries under consideration due to the growing number of political actors articulating its interests.

Relevance of state-building in the 2020s and the case of Africa

The study examines the relevance of state-building in the 2020s within the framework of International Relations (IR) theories, with a focus on the Liberal World Order (LWO). Rooted in liberal ideology, the theory of state-building asserts that adherence to universally accepted norms and regulations by sovereign states best achieves global security. We explore the concept of ‘offensive liberalism’, emphasising the proactive role of stable states in enforcing these norms in regions where state capacity is lacking. The paper revisits the literature on state-building and the international system, noting a decline in scholarly focus over the past fifteen years. However, contemporary conflicts such as the war in Ukraine have brought state-building back to the forefront of global political discourse. The study underscores the importance of state-building in maintaining the stability and security of the LWO and emphasises the need for comprehensive reconstruction efforts in war-torn regions. It argues for the continued relevance of state-building in maintaining the LWO, particularly in regions facing instability. It calls for flexible, context-aware strategies that prioritise local engagement and regional cooperation to address Africa’s unique socio-political landscape’s challenges and opportunities.

The socialization relevance of digital media practices in adolescence in times of polycrisis

AbstractPolitical orientation is one of many developmental tasks that must be achieved during adolescence. Political attitudes are an important facet of the self. Global crises such as wars, hunger, disease, inequality, discrimination, displacement, and climate change are complex issues that challenge young people to take a stance. They are omnipresent and all but unavoidable. Nevertheless, not all youth participate in political discourse or engage in protest—in whatever form—against the developments that affect them.The article inquires into how, in times of polycrisis, young people become politically interested and active individuals by engaging with the so-called ‘civic web’. What potential is offered by which digital infrastructures and which forms of political participation are relevant for young people in their everyday lives and socialization? What conditions need to be in place to motivate young people to participate and engage in politics on and via the internet, especially in the long term? First, common digital media practices, their distribution and effectiveness are described. Numerous studies have shown that young people are less active and careless online than is generally assumed. From the perspective of youth and media sociology, young people’s modes of use are considered, as well as how they weigh up the consequences of certain media practices and ambivalent developments. Last but not least, the conditions that promote or hinder participation and political engagement are critically discussed.

Sufism And Quranic Interpretation: Bridging Spirituality, Culture, and Political Discourse in Muslim Societies

This research discusses the influence of the Sufi interpretation of the Qur'an in shaping cultural narratives and political discourses in Muslim society. This study addresses the under-explored influence of Sufism beyond its spiritual domain, specifically in cultural and political spheres. This study aims to fill this void by exploring how the Sufi interpretation of the Qur'an influences contemporary cultural identity and political dynamics. The methods used in this study are multidisciplinary approaches, including analysis of Sufi literature, art, and social practices. The study's findings suggest that Sufism has a significant role in shaping cultural narratives, promoting tolerance and social justice, and providing a framework of thought that influences political discourse in Muslim communities. This study recommends that future studies focus more on Sufism's contribution to Islamic political thought and its relevance in the modern context. This research also emphasizes the importance of considering the spiritual dimension in analyzing cultural and political phenomena to understand the role of religion in shaping the social and political landscape more comprehensively.

Rapidly diverging public trust in science in the United States.

Trust in science is crucial to resolving societal problems. Americans across political ideologies have high levels of trust in science-a stable pattern observed over the past 50 years. Yet, trust in science varies by individual and group characteristics and faces several threats, from political actors, increased political polarization, or global crises. We revisit historical trends of trust in science among Americans by political orientation. We find steadily diverging trends by political views since the 1990s, and a drastically and rapidly opening gap since 2018. Recent unprecedented changes are driven not only by decreases in trust among conservatives but also by increases among liberals. Existing theoretical accounts do not fully explain these patterns. Diverging attitudes toward the institution of science can diminish capacity for collective problem-solving, eroding the shared foundation for decision-making and political discourse.

REPRESENTATION OF THE STRATEGY OF INTERCEPTION BY PITCH VARIATIONS IN POLITICAL DEBATES

The political future of debating candidates is often shaped by the degree of credibility based on argumentative strategies. Today, political argumentation has gained particular relevance, especially due to its psychological impact on voters. In political debates, opponents who possess different political backgrounds employ diverse linguistic and prosodic styles. Through linguistic analysis of selected audio and video materials, we identified several linguistic methods that achieve the objectives of divertissement, competitiveness and personification in political debates, which are the main characteristics of this type of political discourse. The differences between ordinary utterances, remark-utterances, simple overlays of remarks, role exchanges and intentional interruptions are also considered as manipulative means, as we argue that these are deliberate and determined by the speakers’ communicative strategies. We focus particularly on the dialogic nature of televised debates, which in this type of political discourse operates on two-levels: “politician – opponent”, and “politician – audience”. Participants in televised debates use various argumentative strategies to influence both their opponents and voters, often deliberately aiming to discredit their opponents and create a contrasting background for manipulation. For this analysis, we focused on the interception strategy, one of the most commonly used in political debates. In the paper, we examine the speech behavior of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as a tool to create their media portrait and personify their political programs. Thus, the article focuses on the strategy of interception and its prosodic realization by means of such non-verbal tools as pitch variations accompanied by deliberate interruptions, remarks, refutations and increasing volume of voice which contribute to argumentation in political debates. In other words, the paper aims at benefiting to identify the role of prosodic means in argumentative political debates. The research methodology involves the code biology approach by applying experimental phonetic and phonological methods. Our analysis reveals that prosody is crucial not only in shaping political discourse but also in reflecting politicians’ viewpoints. We tried to match prosody with argumentation, which contributes to synthesizing naturalness in political speeches. Interruptions disrupt the prosodic structure of the statement and conflict with phonetic signals of role switching, such as high/low pitch or terminal tone variations. Opponents convey confidence through pitch variations: the low pitch is an indicator of assertiveness and certainty, whereas the high pitch suggests uncertainty. High pitch occurs when the new information (rheme) is introduced, while low pitch reflects previously stated information (theme). High pitch can also be a strategy to express emotions or a tool to make the opponent give up and concede the role.