Talis pater, talis filius: the role of discursive strategies, thematic narratives and ideology in Cosa Nostra

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 540-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Indìo Massimo Poppi ◽  
Giovanni A. Travaglino ◽  
Salvatore Di Piazza
Keyword(s):  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Cosa Nostra

Contesting global gender equality norms: the case of Turkey

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 828-847
Author(s):  
Marella Bodur Ün
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Local Norm ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Emergent Literature

AbstractOver the past two decades, constructivist International Relations (IR) scholars have produced substantial knowledge on the diffusion and adoption of global norms, emphasising the role of Western norm entrepreneurs in constructing and promoting new norms to passive, generally non-Western, norm takers. An emergent literature on norm dynamics unsettles this narrative of linear progress, highlighting the agency of diverse actors, including the agency of non-Western norm entrepreneurs, in normative change. This article contributes to this recent norm research by exploring the normative agency of local actors in the Turkish context, who have actively engaged in normative contestation over the meaning of gender equality. More specifically, the article reveals the crucial role of a pro-government, conservative women's organisation in subverting global gender equality norms and in promoting a local norm of ‘gender justice’ as an alternative. The article furthers research on norm contestation by analysing the discursive strategies and justifications local norm makers have adopted in the Turkish context upon encountering norms that challenged their normative beliefs and practices. Finally, the article critically engages with postsecular feminism, highlighting the agency of a religiously informed, conservative women's organisation as a non-Western norm entrepreneur.

scholarly journals The United Nations’ (UN) decision to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Chow ◽  
Caroline Aggestam Pontoppidan
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse and understand the UN System’s adoption of IPSAS from a legitimacy perspective. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of publicly accessible documents from the UN System archives was conducted. The analysis was framed through the broader lens of legitimacy theory, drawing attention to the rationalities of decisions taken. Findings This study illustrated how the need for accounting reforms was rationalised throughout the UN System of organisations. Decision-making processes were reflective of political concerns and the accompanying need to continually demonstrate accountability. The discursive strategies observed associated the need to improve accountability with the adoption of globally recognised accounting systems. However, such logic assumed that existing accountability deficits were intrinsically linked to accounting failures, which overemphasises accounting’s role. Social implications The UN System’s decision to adopt IPSAS in 2006 has been followed by a substantial increase in the number of Member States following suit. However, governments and other organisations considering IPSAS adoption should be aware of the historical context in which the UN System’s decision was made. Originality/value This study addresses a lacuna in empirical studies providing an understanding of the role of accounting reforms within international organisations such as the UN System.

scholarly journals Articulation of resistance in the discourse of the 1996/97 Serbian protests: Political struggle through culture and symbolic geography

Sociologija ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 476-496
Author(s):  
Tamara Petrovic-Trifunovic
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Social Cleavages ◽  
Student Protests ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Symbolic Geography ◽  
The Us

The present article analyzes the discursive articulation of resistance to the regime of Slobodan Milosevic during the civil and student protests in Serbia in the winter of 1996/97. By applying critical discourse analysis to the opposition press of the time, we find that the rhetoric during the protests centered around the notions of civilization and culture. In variations of orientalism, balkanism and ?urbocentric exclusivism,? the ?Us? and ?Them? identifications were constructed through mutually interlaced semantic pairs: civilization - backwardness, culture - primitivism, Europe - Balkans/Orient, urbanity - rurality and democracy - communism. By drawing on existing research on the role of symbolic geography and cultural distinctions in the creation of social cleavages in the post-Yugoslav societies, our analysis presents how cultural traits and affiliations, ?urbanity? and individual characteristics, such as intelligence, critical ability and sense of humor, were used for the framing of protests, but also as means of political struggle in the protests. A detailed reconstruction of discursive strategies of reporting on the protests allows for a contemporary assessment of the limits of protest politics articulated in this way, and its comparison with a recent wave of mobilization of citizens of Serbia in 2016 and 2017.

Monitoring mobilization: a discursive psychological analysis of online mobilizing practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Sneijder ◽  
Baukje Stinesen ◽  
Maartje Harmelink ◽  
Annette Klarenbeek
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Psychological Analysis ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
Media Monitoring ◽  
Interactional Features ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to describe the ways in which people use language to achieve mobilization. Recognizing and anticipating the discursive practices that are used online, for instance for mobilization, increasingly is a primary concern for professionals in crisis communication or issue management. Design/methodology/approach A discursive psychological perspective is drawn upon to conduct a qualitative analysis of the interactional and rhetorical features of mobilization on two Facebook event pages, and to discover patterns of talk. Findings Three dominant discursive patterns were identified: disputing the integrity of authorities, constructing a positive atmosphere and a feeling of “togetherness” and constructing decisive identities. These activities play an important role in mobilization and are accomplished by the use of language. Furthermore, it demonstrates that mobilization involves the concern of not overtly presenting oneself as a victim or activist. Research limitations/implications Insights into the discursive strategies people use to achieve mobilization are important for recognizing these discursive phenomena during media monitoring. The analysis presented in this paper does not allow the authors to draw general conclusions nor the success of the strategies in terms of the actual events. Practical implications The study offers important insights for communication professionals (for instance, in the domain of crisis communication), enabling them to recognize mobilizing practices in other contexts and designing an adequate response. Social implications The study exposes those issues that are important for mobilizing a community and creating public engagement. Originality/value In addition to other studies on the role of language in mobilization, the current study adds a perspective that takes into account both the rhetorical and the interactional features of mobilization. Furthermore, the findings are implemented in a training for professionals in the domain of crisis communication.

LGBT recognition in EU accession states: How identification with Europe enhances the transformative power of discourse

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Vasilev
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Cultural Environment ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Shared Identity ◽  
Lgbt Politics ◽  
The Eu

AbstractIn the EU accession literature, there is a tendency to downplay the role of discourse in facilitating norm diffusion, particularly when domestic resistance towards European norms is strong. The assumptions in this thinking are that critical deliberations and civil society activism simply lack the potency required to elicit norm conforming behaviour in accession states and that the only realistic hope for achieving this rests with the introduction of material incentives that make the costs of normative adaptation lower than its rewards. I focus on developments in the field of LGBT politics to challenge these assumptions and to specify the conditions under which discursive strategies are likely to stimulate the domestic uptake of contentious norms. I highlight shared identity as a crucial factor in the success of discursive influence, contending that under conditions of identity convergence, a cultural environment prevails in which norm promoters can more effectively ignite a process of deliberative reflection, shame norm-violators into conformance and cultivate resonance around controversial ideas. I develop these arguments through an analysis of LGBT and accession politics in Croatia and Serbia, contending that Croatia’s strong identification with Europe accelerated LGBT recognition there while Serbia’s relatively weaker identification with Europe slowed it down.

scholarly journals ‘Embedded into the core’: The discursive construction of ‘policy’ in higher education learning and teaching documents and its recontextualisation in practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 478-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Horrod
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Policy Compliance ◽  
Teaching Excellence ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
The Core ◽  
Policy Ideas

With increasing competition and metrics focusing on teaching quality (e.g. the teaching excellence framework or TEF), there is a spotlight on learning and teaching (L&T) in policies and practices within universities. Bodies at national and institutional levels focus on disseminating policy ideas on L&T which are oriented to government priorities. This article focuses on how policy itself is discursively constructed in selected L&T policy documents and explores the means of the recontextualisation of policy discourses. I discuss the following three findings: (1) the construction of policy as ‘embedded within processes and practices’, (2) shifts in genre and discursive strategies as policy ideas become short guidelines and (3) the role of ‘discursive mechanisms’ in forcing engagement with policy ideas. Through an analysis of discursive strategies and recontextualisation, I demonstrate the seeming insecurity around policy compliance and show how constructions of L&T are never value-free.

scholarly journals Curative, regenerating, redemptive and liberating? The systematic production of ignorance in Michael Gove’s rhetoric on prison reform at a time of crisis

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-105
Author(s):  
Chloe Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Prison Reform ◽  
Progressive Reform ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Conservative Government

Prisons are in a moment of crisis, with a number of recent high-profile scandals receiving substantial media attention and threatening to undermine the hegemony of the institution. At the same time, the work of the current Conservative Government on criminal justice policy as a whole, and on prisons in particular, has been seen by many as a marked departure from their previous penal policy agenda, heralding a new, progressive and broadly liberal direction. Focusing on Michael Gove’s rhetoric on prison reform during his term as Justice Secretary (May 2015 to July 2016), this article uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how Gove employed a variety of discursive strategies to create an impression of a liberal, progressive reform agenda, while simultaneously reinforcing the need for an expansive and punitive prison system. Building on recent work on agnotology, it shows that Gove strategically selected, deflected, distorted and ignored the available evidence on prisons. In doing so, he effectively legitimized and reinforced the central role of the prison in the criminal justice system despite increasing evidence of its inefficacy, foreclosing discussion of genuinely radical alternatives.

Deflecting national ideologies: Exploring identity management trajectories of medium-sized cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2199635
Author(s):  
Inès Hassen ◽  
Massimo Giovanardi
Keyword(s):  
Identity Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Municipal Governments ◽  
Local Agency ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Urban Research ◽  
Neoliberal Policies ◽  
World Level

This paper focuses on the agency exhibited by municipal governments in modifying or resisting neoliberal policies, by investigating their efforts to manufacture favorable competitive urban identities. In particular, this paper emphasizes how national ideologies are (re)articulated at a local level by medium-sized cities placed within different national contexts and, thus, exposed to different orientations toward neoliberal principles. By performing historical urban research in Leicester (UK) and Reims (France), this study identifies different expressions of local agency through which cities present their identities on a global scenario, by responding to similar pressure of deindustrialization and urban competition from mid-1970s. If the discursive strategies of both cities reproduce signs of respective national ideologies, findings highlight two trajectories whereby cities negotiate and rework the main narratives underpinning those national ideologies. The concepts of active and passive deflection are offered in order to capture the role of local agency and conceptualize how national ideologies are appropriated locally by medium-sized cities in the attempt to engage with perceived increasing world-level forces.

New Responses to the Legitimacy Crisis of International Institutions: The Role of ‘Civil Society’ and the Rise of the Principle of Participation of ‘The Most Affected’ in International Institutional Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen von Bernstorff
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Civil Society Participation ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Legitimacy Crisis

Abstract The article offers a description and assessment of the most important discursive strategies used to enhance and justify various models of ‘civil-society participation’ in international institutions since the late 19th century. It starts from the assumption that the two main rationales for, or concepts of, ‘civil-society’ participation are functionalism and democratization. The article also notes that, as an offshoot of the democratization rationale, a new empirical and discursive 21st-century trend has partially replaced classic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with so-called ‘affected person’s organizations’ in international institutions. In this context, the article claims that the field of international institutional law is currently witnessing the rise of a principle of participation of ‘the most affected’. This shift arguably is an institutional strategy to respond to a profound legitimacy crisis of both international NGOs and the so-called ‘global governance’ structures shaped over the last 30 years. Against the backdrop of various theoretical approaches to the problem of representation and affectedness in political philosophy and international law, the article critically assesses if, and to what extent, the involvement of ‘the most affected’ in international organizations can alter the legitimacy resources of international law and its institutions.

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