scholarly journals Poststructuralist discourse theory as an independent paradigm for studying institutions: Towards a new definition of ‘discursive construction’ in institutional analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Definition Of

Old Media, New Gigs: The Discursive Construction of the Gig Economy in Australian News Media

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110346
Author(s):  
Luci Pangrazio ◽  
Cameron Bishop ◽  
Fiona Lee
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Cultural Imaginary ◽  
Short Term Contract ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Work And Life

This article analyses the representation of the gig economy in three Australian newspapers from 2014 to 2019. ‘Gig work’ is defined as short term, contract or freelance employment and is seen by many social institutions as the future of work. Drawing on a corpus of 426 articles, Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory is used to examine the construction of the ‘gig economy’ in the cultural imaginary. Five key elements emerge, including: demographics of workers; working conditions; workers’ rights; resistance and regulation; and change and disruption. Despite multiple competing discourses evident across the newspapers, each constructs the gig economy as an inexorable phase in the evolution of the relationship between capital and the worker. The article critically analyses the construction of the discourse, including the difficulties of regulating gig economy platforms and the narrative of inevitability used to describe changes to work and life brought about by technology.

scholarly journals Media construction of the immigrant’s image: specifics of discourse strategies (based on the content of a Facebook group and articles in The Daily Mail)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
M. S. Matytsina ◽  
O. N. Prokhorova ◽  
I. V. Chekulai
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Daily Mail ◽  
Reciprocal Effect ◽  
The Media ◽  
Definition Of

The paper based on the content of the Facebook group Immigrants in EU and The Daily Mail publications discusses the issue of discursive construction of an immigrant image in media discourse. Using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the authors claim that the image of an immigrant can be viewed as a discursive construct, and the main discursive strategies involved in its construction include the reference strategy and the prediction strategy. As a result of the analysis, the so called CDA-categories (topic blocks) underlying the formation of the immigrant figure, are identified and illustrated by the relevant examples, the need for further study of the social media discourse as part of critical discourse analysis is justified. The relevance of such study is due to the growing research interest in discursive construction of the immigrant figure in the media discourse, since it underpins the definition of discourse as a form of social practice, not only reflecting processes in the society, but also exerting a reciprocal effect on them. The use of both verbal and non-verbal means in the media texts under study reflects the intention of the authors of the messages to use all possible communication channels when constructing an immigrant’s image. The results show that the dichotomy of “friends and foes” is being formed and maintained by the British newspaper The Daily Mail, while the members of the Immigrants in EU group try to mitigate the conflict between immigrants and indigenous people.

Constructing the Czech nation

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Batistová ◽  
Nico Carpentier
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Nodal Point ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Nodal Points ◽  
Cultural Magazines

Abstract The article’s objective is to analyse the discursive construction of the Czech nation in three cultural magazines, produced by Czech exiles in London during WWII. The theoretical backbone for this analysis is provided by Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985) discourse theory, which in turn supports a discourse-theoretical re-reading of the literature on the nation, first in general and then in relation to the Czech nation. These three theoretical components support an analysis of 650 selected contributions in 36 issues of the three main cultural journals of the Czech London exile: Obzor [Horizon], Kulturní zápisník [Cultural Notebook] and Review. This discourse-theoretical analysis shows the presence, particularity and contingency of a series of internal nodal points (temporal, spatial, linguistic, cultural and popular), in combination with the external nodal point of diversity in relation to outgroups. In the conclusion, the political nature of this construction, which we label the politics of poetry, is emphasized.

Coasean method: lessons from the farm

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
DOUGLAS W. ALLEN
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Level Of Detail ◽  
Transaction Level ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Farm Economics

AbstractRonald Coase detested ‘blackboard economics’ and as a result was often criticized for being ‘against theory’. Coase has also been criticized for being overly descriptive in his institutional analysis. Here, I claim that Coase was both theoretical and interested in hypothesis testing. In order to do Coasean analysis, however, it is necessary to analyse a subject matter at the deep transaction level, given the definition of transaction costs. The rich level of detail required may give the impression of an absence of theory or testing. Here, I provide a number of real farm examples and contrast them with blackboard farm economics to make this point.

The discursive construction of the social stratification order in reforming China

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Stratification ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Evolving System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hierarchical Pattern

This article examines the discursive reconfiguration of the social stratification order in reforming China. Applying the two notions of metadiscourse and entextualization from the natural history of discourse (NHD) perspective (Silverstein & Urban 1996), I argue that the missing link between the discursive and the social is forged through the metadiscourses (Urban 1996) originated by the top leaders of the Communist Party of China, and that their ongoing entextualizations play a crucial role in establishing the stratificational status quo. They set the tone for dismantling the pre-reform hierarchical pattern and constructing an evolving system in light of the growing market economy. The analysis of their entextualizations is based on period texts (1978–2008), primarily speeches of the three party leaders Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Combining the discursive insights of critical discourse theory and the NHD perspective, this study intends to break new ground in applying the NHD approach to analyzing the reforming Chinese state socialism where social stratification is necessarily subject to ongoing transformations.

Theories of Prophecy in Jeremiah

2021 ◽  
pp. 251-266
Author(s):  
Nathan Mastnjak
Keyword(s):  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Basic Definition ◽  
Bodily Experience ◽  
Prophetic Literature ◽  
Divine Judgment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

In turning prophecy into a form of literature, the authors of ancient Israelite prophetic books repeatedly addressed the nature of prophecy itself. This preoccupation suggests that the phenomenon of prophecy was by no means a simple and known concept to the authors of this literature, but rather one in need of discursive construction. The authors of Jeremiah explored theories of prophecy from a variety of perspectives. While all the Jeremiah traditions assume a basic definition of prophecy as the mediation of a divine message through an intermediary, they also move beyond this conception in a number of ways. Though prophetic literature ostensibly presents disembodied prophecy, the authors of Jeremiah frequently direct their attention to the essentially embodied nature of prophecy. The prophet’s bodily experience, for these authors, cannot be separated from his capacity to transmit the divine message. Other parts of the Jeremiah tradition negotiate a history of prophecy in relation to Moses and Deuteronomy. For these texts, prophecy has to be understood as an unfolding history that begins but does not end with Deuteronomy. Finally, a distinct thread of tradition imagines Jeremiah’s words as carrying an almost magical efficacy. Rather than merely transmitting a message, Jeremiah’s speech has the effect of bringing about the divine judgment on Judah. In each case, the ancient authors navigate the innovative contours of prophetic literature by actively exploring the potencies of prophecy.

Bringing Discourse Theory into Media Studies

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Carpentier ◽  
Benjamin De Cleen
Keyword(s):  
Media Studies ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Audience Participation ◽  
Ernesto Laclau ◽  
Political Studies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Methodological Guidelines

When Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe published an elaborate version of their discourse theory in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (1985), they were met with fierce resistance by a unified front of traditional Marxists and anti-poststructuralists. The debates on post-Marxism dominated much of the book’s reception. This focus, combined with discourse theory’s rather abstract nature, its lack of clear methodological guidelines, and its more natural habitat of Political Studies, caused discourse theory to remain confined to this realm of Political Studies, despite the broad ideological definition of the political preferred by the authors. This article aims to revisit discourse theory and bring it into the realm of Media Studies. A necessary condition to enhance discourse theory’s applicability in Media Studies is the re-articulation of discourse theory into discourse theoretical analysis (DTA). DTA’s claim for legitimacy is supported in this article by two lines of argument. Firstly, a comparison with Critical Discourse Analyses (CDA) at the textual and contextual level allow us to flesh out the similarities — and more importantly — the differences between CDA and DTA. Secondly, DTA’s applicability is demonstrated by putting it to work in a case study, which focuses on the articulation of audience participation through televisional practices. Both lines of argument aim to illustrate the potential, the adaptability and the legitimacy of DTA’s move into media studies.

“Go to hell fucking faggots, may you die!” framing the LGBT subject in online comments

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne Baider
Keyword(s):  
Hate Speech ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Greek Cypriot ◽  
The Social ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
Lgbt Community ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Republic Of Cyprus

Abstract This paper reports on a manual monitoring of online representations of LGBT persons in the Republic of Cyprus for the period April 2015–February 2016. The article contextualizes the prevalence of “hate speech” in online Greek Cypriot comments against LGBT individuals, and, more generally, against non-heterosexuals. Adopting a Foucauldian position vis-à-vis the social and discursive construction of sexuality, we outline, first, the socio-historical context (Fairclough 1989, 2003) with a focus on LGBT rights in the Republic of Cyprus and the nationalistic project construing sexualities. We then examine the different levels of discursive discrimination practices, providing a snapshot of the types of “hate speech” referring to this topic typically found in such an environment. The focus is on identification of the frames used to construct LGBT identities, and their perception.We use in our title the word subject as defined by post-modernists and by Butler in particular (2009 : iii): subject refers to “a socially produced ‘agent’ and ‘deliberator’ whose agency and thought is made possible by a language that precedes that ‘I’. In this sense the ‘I’ is produced through power (….)”. This paper focuses on the socially produced definition of the LGBT community in the context under study. We thus address the way in which sexuality is constructed within a compulsory and hegemonic heterosexuality and heteronormativity. We analyze our data i.e. comments focused on the LGBT community, with corpus linguistic tools (Baker et al. 2008; Brindle 2016) as well as through a qualitative examination of the identified frames. Our analysis confirms an interface between nationalism and compulsory hegemonic heteronormativity in the Republic as well as the influence of the Orthodox Church and its beliefs (Kamenou 2011a, 2011b, 2016).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document