Rigorous and Relevant – introducing a critical discourse analysis to the relevance debate

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-215
Author(s):  
Izabelle Bäckström ◽  
Kajsa Ahlgren
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Power ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the notion of “relevance” is produced, distributed and consumed in the field of management research by applying a critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theoretical lens. A CDA perspective offers a way to scrutinize the power relations that emerge with journal rankings and how these influence how the relevance discourse develops. Design/methodology/approach This paper illustrates how a CDA perspective can be fruitfully applied to the relevance literature, exemplifying such an application with two illustrative texts. The texts represent two distinct cases; one is a fictive story informally distributed among scholars, and the other is an extract of a published review on the relevance debate. Findings A CDA lens sheds light on how academic power relations are maintained in the production, distribution and consumption of the “relevance” notion. It shows the importance of individual awareness among management researchers of how the discourse is shaped. Research limitations/implications To increase the generalizability of the study, a CDA lens could be applied to a larger amount of texts in the relevance literature. The findings imply that the relevance literature would benefit from contributions bridging the gap between rigor and relevance, and questioning how power relations are maintained. Originality/value CDA adds a new perspective to the relevance debate, revealing how academic power relations are maintained with management scholars’ adherence to journal norms and the implications of this act.

Repairing legitimacy through discourses: insights from the Volkswagen’s 2015 diesel scandal

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Florio ◽  
Alice Francesca Sproviero
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Moral Legitimacy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Strategy ◽  
Cognitive Legitimacy

Purpose This study aims to explore how corporate discourses enact legitimation strategies aimed at repairing pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy types (Suchman, 1995) after a scandal involving sustainability, namely, the Volkswagen’s 2015 diesel scandal. Design/methodology/approach By drawing on the discursive nature of legitimacy, this study conducts a critical discourse analysis to identify how the scandal is depicted and which semantic, grammatical and lexical features characterise discourses. It then relates discourses and their features to legitimation strategies that help repair diverse types of legitimacy. Findings To repair pragmatic legitimacy, discourses on a few actors and processes enact strategies of creating monitors and avoiding panic. Such discourses include grammatical features only. Discourses on the event, actors, processes and topics of apology, trust and integrity aim to repair moral legitimacy. Enriched with grammatical and lexical features, they mobilise disassociation, excuse, justify and restructure strategies. Discourses on the event, actors, processes and topics of corporate qualities, history and future strategy help repair cognitive legitimacy by enacting an avoiding panic strategy. Grammatical, lexical and semantic features characterise such discourses. Research limitations/implications The study reveals the potentials of critical discourse analysis to bring out from texts practical modes of communicating, and specifically those discourses and features of discourses that serve legitimacy purposes. Originality/value This study offers insights into the connection among discourses, relegitimation strategies and legitimacy types by combining the discursive nature of legitimacy with critical discourse analysis. It also contributes to the growing literature on how organisations face the legitimacy challenges raised by scandals involving sustainability.

Representation of cultural tourism on the Web: critical discourse analysis of tourism websites

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sotiroula Liasidou
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Tourism Websites ◽  
The Web

Purpose Culture is an important motivation force to people within the context of tourism. It provides new opportunities for destinations to promote cultural elements and attract more travellers. This study aims to investigate how the cultural heritage of Cyprus is promoted online and to identify whether the needs of travellers who focus on experiential aspects and prioritise culture can be fulfilled. Design/methodology/approach The research aim is fulfilled through a critical discourse analysis of selected WebPages concerning representation of the culture of Cyprus within the tourism context. Findings Eighteen websites were included, and the results suggest that Cyprus has Web exposure specifically promoting its cultural heritage. However, the websites have been established with different tourism scopes, with culture comprising just one part of the content. Thus, the development of specialised websites is dedicated exclusively to culture and tourism, and it seems appropriate to attract travellers interested in more educational activities with cultural and historical value. This approach would bring many benefits because this cohort of travellers is in an upper-scale tourist market. Originality/value This study is original in nature because it brings together the case of Cyprus, an island destination highly depended on tourism in relation to cultural tourism Web discourse. The promotion of cultural parameters will provide more opportunities for the island and escape from the 3S’s (sea, sun and sand) image to be positioned as a culturally sustainable destination.

scholarly journals NO-VALUE GENERATION? SUCCESS IS AN 'EXACT SCIENCE' THAT EVERYONE CAN LEARN!

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
RODOLFO G. S. P. G. PRATES ◽  
ISABELA L. SANTOS ◽  
JARDEL N. MARTINS ◽  
FABIANA S. A. MARTINS ◽  
FELIPE F. COUTO
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
No Value ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Exact Science ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Voice

ABSTRACT Purpose: The general objective is to critically analyze the ideologies and constructions of management ideology in the Internet blog called Geração de Valor (Generation of Value), behind the discourse of success. Originality/value: The pop-management phenomenon has been widespread in the Brazilian context. It leads individuals to look for formulas of excel and achieve success as entrepreneurs. One of the disseminators of this ideology has been Geração de Valor. This article innovates when dealing with thematic without prima donna behaviors or fanciful romanticism. Design/methodology/approach: This article aims to analyze texts available on Geração de Valor through critical discourse analysis (CDA). Findings: We conclude that the voice of the businessman and blogger Flávio Augusto da Silva is nothing more than one of several voices, including in administration, that seek to defend the cult of personal victory and disdain for the collectivist practices of social organization. This kind of analysis is still scarce in this field of study, as they require enriched readings of the text in terms of context and intertextuality. Critical analyses contradict hegemonic visions and sharpen the reader's critical sense. Also, they are useful in highlighting the cult following that Administration has been receiving by the media.

“Sharia on a Plate?” A critical discourse analysis of halal food in two Norwegian newspapers

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Thomas ◽  
Amina Selimovic
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Newspapers ◽  
Halal Food ◽  
The Media

Purpose – This study aims to explore how two Norwegian national online newspapers, Dagbladet and Aftenposten, have framed halal food in the past 6 years (2008-2014), a period conflating with a rise in Muslim demographics in Norway. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods approach is used. Employing among others a Hallidayan transitivity analysis and other approaches from critical discourse analysis (CDA), clausal semantic structures, collocations and nominalizations were explored with a view toward fleshing out ideological significance. Particular attention was given to the neologism – “covert-Islamization” – popularized by the populist right-wing Progress Party. Findings – The findings reveal that Dagbladet refracts halal food through a discourse of crime and other dubious frames tapping into topoi of Islamophobia. Halal is, in this manner, transformed into a synecdoche for deviance. This is contrasted with Aftenposten’s more “halal-friendly” gaze which inter alia is attributed to greater access for Muslim contributors (over 40 per cent), with nearly all authorship penned in the aftermath of the Breivik massacre of July 22, 2011. Research limitations/implications – As a comparative research that explores two newspapers – albeit with substantial national circulation – there are obvious limitations. Future research could explore the contents of Verdens Gang, the biggest newspaper in Norway, and perhaps incorporate iconic semiotic content. Social implications – The prevalent media discourse on halal in Norway casts a shadow over a fundamental aspect of the identity construction of Norwegians who adhere to Islam, thus highlighting issues of belonging and citizenry in the “new” Norway. National discourses of identity and belonging impact upon the Muslim consumer’s perception of self and ethnicity, and how these perceptions are negotiated in the interstices of a skewed media coverage of halal certainly serves to undermine this self-perception. Originality/value – Several recent studies have broached the subject of the manifold representations of Muslims and Islam in the media using a CDA, but there is a dearth in studies with a specific focus on halal food. This study contributes to the lacuna in the literature in an area of growing importance, not just as a socio-political and religious phenomenon, but a lucrative commercial project in a Scandinavian context.

A critical, comparative analysis of the LMS review : technological change, power relations, and discourse

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jenna Kammer
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Management System ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Shared Governance ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Land Grant ◽  
Land Grant Universities ◽  
The University

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Technology in universities is constantly changing. Universities often use models of shared governance to make decisions about what these changes should be. However, existing relations of power may play a role in the discourse created during events of technological change. This study looks at power embedded in discussions about technology. It investigates power relations as evident in the discourse created by several public, land-grant universities who participated in selecting a new learning management system (LMS) for the university. Using critical discourse analysis, language from websites, correspondence, open forums and vendor meetings are analyzed from four different land-grant universities for evidence of existing power relations. Keywords: Technological change, shared governance, power relations, critical discourse analysis, learning management system

Fighting the virus, “hunting the witches” – moralizing in public discourses during the coronavirus pandemic in Croatia

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krešimir Žažar
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moral Communication ◽  
Moral Discourses

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to discuss particular features of the public debate around the COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation strategies in Croatian media from the beginning of 2020 to mid-September of the same year. Design/methodology/approach The discussion is theoretically grounded on Luhmann’s concept of moral communication combined with the key assumption of critical discourse analysis that language reflects a position of power of social actors. Based on these premises, the analysis of a sample of articles in a chosen online media was conducted to uncover the moral codes in the public debate concerning the corona outbreak and connect them with specific moral discourses of particular social actors. Findings The findings clearly indicate that the communication about the pandemic is considerably imbued with moralization and that moral coding is profoundly used to generate preferred types of behaviour of citizens and their compliance with the imposed epidemiologic measures. In conclusion, Luhmann’s claim of moralization as a contentious form of communication is confirmed as the examined public discussion fosters confrontations and generates disruptions rather than contributing to a productive dialogue among diverse social actors. Originality/value The novelty of the approach lies in the combination of Luhman’s conceiving of moral communication with critical discourse analysis that, taken together, entails a pertinent research tool for analysing relevant attributes of the ongoing vibrant debate on the coronavirus outbreak.

Counter-discourse corpora, ethical subjectivity and critique of argument

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran O’Halloran
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Argument Evaluation ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Ethical Subjectivity

In the article, I model an alternative critical discourse analysis (CDA) pedagogy which is based on an ethical subjectivity instead of a political subjectivity. Aimed at undergraduates, it facilitates critical purchase on arguments which attack the standpoint of relatively powerless groups/organizations (who seek political change). Via corpus linguistic analysis of appropriate web-based data, I show how the analyst can rigorously find out at scale the recurrent key concerns of a relatively powerless Other with whom they were previously unfamiliar. They use this counter-discourse information as a lens on an argument which criticises the relatively powerless group, ascertaining whether or not the argument has distorted the group’s key concerns. Should this be the case, I highlight how the analyst can go on to explore whether any mischaracterisation has implications for the argument’s credibility because it loses coherence relative to the outlook of the Other. The approach is grounded in Jacques Derrida’s ‘ethics of hospitality to the Other’. It is in being hospitable to the outlook of a relatively powerless Other, and adopting it for purposes of argument evaluation, that the analyst effectively creates an ethical subjectivity. That said, the ethical and political are, in principle, relatable with this method as I indicate.

The responsibility of an ethnocentric consumer – nationalistic, patriotic or environmentally conscientious? A critical discourse analysis of “buy domestic” campaigns

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiia-Lotta Pekkanen ◽  
Visa Penttilä
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Consumer Responsibility ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe study examines the responsibilisation of an ethnocentric consumer in commercial, meta-organisational discourses. In addition to nationalistic and patriotic discourses, the focus is on wider conceptualisations of consumer responsibility.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses critical discourse analysis as a methodological approach to conduct an empirical case study on the texts of two producer-driven labelling campaigns.FindingsThe campaign texts create possibilities for ethnocentric consumption with positioning, argumentative and classificatory discourses. Patriotic responsibilisation is emphasised, together with rationales to take action on environmental concerns.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the responsibility of marketers over their corporate responsibility communication, suggesting that ethnocentric promotions may have the power to alter how consumers take action on various responsibility concerns.Social implicationsThe study surfaces the tensions that responsible consumption can entail for consumers. Indeed, nationalistic and patriotic discourses may alter our understanding of responsibility issues that may seem completely separate from the concepts of nationalism and patriotism.Originality/valueThe paper shows how different organisational texts are deployed to bring about the idea of ethnocentric consumption and how this relates to responsibility discourses, nationalism and patriotism.

Bush, Obama

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Organization Structure ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Linguistic Variables ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discourse Practices ◽  
Textual Organization ◽  
Political Scene

This paper, framed under the scope of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), explains social processes by analyzing discourse practices. It proposes (para)linguistic variables employed in the creation of (in)formality in discourse in relation to two Aristotelian persuasive modes: Ethos and Pathos (Kennedy 1991). These modes of persuasion reveal different ways to convey a political message in the current U.S. political scene. This paper compares the stylistic differences in speeches given by George W. Bush and Barack Obama to justify escalating troops in the conflicts of Iraq (2007) and Afghanistan (2009), respectively. I propose (para)linguistic indicators of formality associated with Aristotelian modes at the level of linguistic choices (“lexical variables” [Schilling-Estes 2004] and “marked register usages” [Myers-Scotton 2001]), textual organization (structure and predictability), non-verbal communication (i.e. laughter; Jefferson, Sacks & Schegloff 1987), and intertextuality (Blackledge 2005; Fairclough 1992, 2003) by means of new voices (Bakhtin 1981) into the here-and-now moment of discourse.

“Learn to blend in!”

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 698-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrine Norberg ◽  
Ylva Fältholm
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Linguistic Methods ◽  
Industry Needs ◽  
Masculine Culture ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute with increased knowledge about gender in mining by exploring how women are discursively represented in texts produced by actors in the international mining arena. Design/methodology/approach The study combines corpus linguistic methods and discourse analysis. It implies a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, where the former is used as the point of departure for the latter, and where the material analysed is chosen on the basis of certain selected search phrases. The source for the study is the web, and the search engine used for the retrieval of data is WebCorp Live, a tool tailored for linguistic analysis of web material. Findings The analysis reveals that although the overarching theme in the women-in mining discourse is that women are needed in the industry, the underlying message is that women-in-mining are perceived as problematic. Practical implications The study shows that if mining is to change into a modern industry, the inherent hyper-masculine culture and its effects on the whole industry needs to be problematised and made evident. To increase the mere number of women, with women still heavily underrepresented, is not enough to break gender-biased discrimination. Originality/value The research contributes with new knowledge about gender in mining by using a method, which so far has had limited usage in (critical) discourse analysis.

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