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- Volume 17, Issue, 2018
Journal of Language and Politics - Volume 17, Issue 1, 2018
Volume 17, Issue 1, 2018
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Democratic credentials and the ‘other(s)’ in the discourse of the Spanish Partido Popular, 1977–2015
Author(s): David Atkinson and Cinta Rambladopp.: 5–23 (19)More LessIn this paper we argue that aspects of the discourse of the governing party in Spain at the time of writing, the Partido Popular, and its predecessor (1976–1989), Alianza Popular, reveal a marked continuity in its self-presentation and its representation of its adversaries, spanning the entire period from its origins in the immediate post-Franco period of the late 1970s to the present. We conclude that the type of construction we describe can be found in the discourse of many of the party’s most prominent figures, that it is central to the entire historical trajectory of AP/PP, and in some cases is in the process of becoming if anything more explicit.
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The roles of field and capital in negotiating language policy in the Slovene parliament
Author(s): Kristof Savskipp.: 24–45 (22)More LessThe aim of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of integrating Bourdieu’s notions of field and capital in discursive analyses of language policy. The paper presents an analysis of a debate in a committee session of the Slovene parliament, where different actors negotiated about the contents of a language policy strategy. The study draws on nexus analysis by focussing on the situated nature of discursive actions in particular settings, and presents a historical ethnography which combines analysis of transcripts with interviews and a detailed examination of policy documents. The analysis uncovers the efforts of actors to legitimize their authority and achieve their goals with the support of capital accumulated in different fields, and focusses particularly on the dynamics involved in translating the value of sources of capital across the borders of different fields.
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Semiotic engineering in Singapore
Author(s): Wan Ting Yeo and Ruanni Tupaspp.: 46–69 (24)More LessNational campaigns are an extension of governance that aim to subliminally (re)align a society to a country’s nation-building objectives or ideals. They are carefully curated government projects that are heavily invested in the dissemination and reinforcement of nation-building ideologies. This paper has focused its research on the National Courtesy Campaign, which was launched at a time when the ‘Asian values’ discourse dominated much of Singapore’s statal narratives. Although not overtly marketed as part of the ‘Asianizing’ Singapore movement, posters of the National Courtesy Campaign were found to be sites in which ideologies that informed the ‘Asianizing’ Singapore movement were reproduced. This paper explores the micro-communication strategies employed for the dissemination of these nation-building ideologies.
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Organisational change, ideologies and mega discourses
Author(s): Vincent Guangsheng Huangpp.: 70–91 (22)More LessMega discourses, as discourses recognised and espoused at the broader societal level, enact the taken-for-granted premises governing an organisational sector. The dominant power can designate the value, norm and moral duty of an organisational sector through manipulating such mega discourses. Conceptualised within critical discourse studies and Chinese discourse studies, this article assesses the official discourse of China’s third sector circulating in the policy documents, political speeches, and news media, illustrating how China’s authoritarian state utilises discursive strategies to articulate a new order of discourse of the third sector. It argues that such an alternative discursive ordering is significantly different from its western counterpart. The authoritarian state has strategically appropriated historical and cultural resources to legitimise such a “de-SMOisation” process, intending to insulate nongovernmental organisations from social movements. This study concludes with a discussion on the significance and implications of this third sector discourse.
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Political campaign and democratisation
pp.: 92–117 (26)More LessThe use of hate speech for political mobilisation and its overall impact on democratisation have generated debate and controversy in both post-colonial formations and more advanced democracies. This is because hate speech tends to promote hatred between different ethnic groups. In Nigeria, it is usually deployed in the build up to elections. Using mixed methods approach, this study interrogates the consequences of hate speech as a political campaign strategy on electioneering and democratisation in Nigeria. The study argues that the use of hate speech in political campaign entrenches hatred and discriminatory voting pattern among citizens. It grossly affects democratisation, the quality of party programmes and candidates chosen by voters. Despite its appeal to extreme right populism based on ethnic voting and other forms of exclusionary politics, the use of hate speech as a political campaign strategy neither promotes the principles of majoritarian democracy nor protects minority rights.
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Skilling the nation, empowering the citizen
Author(s): Carl Jon Way Ngpp.: 118–140 (23)More LessThis paper focuses on what is referred to as the SkillsFuture initiative as the most current crystallization of the Singapore government’s lifelong learning policy, and the state-sponsored discourse associated with it. Adopting a critical discourse-analytic approach, the study examines a data set that cuts across various genres and media (i.e. political speeches, Internet website, video clips), covering both linguistic and (moving) visual instantiations, involving semiotic features like pronouns, modality, image design parameters, and importantly, metaphor. The paper seeks to provide insight into the ideological foundations of Singapore’s education-labour policies as an indication of the ideal(ized) Singaporean citizen-subject promulgated by the state, and how these are semiotically instantiated in state-sponsored discourse. In so doing, the analysis also considers the contextual specificity of the neoliberal-oriented values purveyed, as the individualizing tropes of neoliberalism discursively interact with what might be considered a post-Confucian Singaporean communitarian/collective ethos.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 24 (2025)
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Volume 23 (2024)
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Volume 22 (2023)
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Volume 21 (2022)
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Volume 20 (2021)
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Volume 19 (2020)
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Volume 18 (2019)
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Volume 17 (2018)
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Volume (2018)
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Volume 16 (2017)
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Volume 15 (2016)
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Volume 14 (2015)
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Volume 13 (2014)
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Volume 12 (2013)
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Volume 11 (2012)
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Volume 10 (2011)
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Volume 9 (2010)
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Volume 8 (2009)
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Volume 7 (2008)
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Volume 6 (2007)
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Volume 5 (2006)
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Volume 4 (2005)
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Volume 3 (2004)
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Volume 2 (2003)
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Volume 1 (2002)
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