Bringing agency back in: the missing link between identity, knowledge, and mediated discourse

Abstract

In an era often characterised by the notions of “post-truth” and “identity politics”, the nexus between communication, knowledge, and identity forms a crucial realm for social-scientific analysis. However, existing approaches, inspired by content, frame, and discourse analysis often rest on a limited conceptualisation of the agency exercised by those appearing in mediated discourse as speakers or subjects. To remedy this, we argue for an intervention inspired by Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and propose a framework combining ANT and poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT). Building on a discussion of the theoretical similarities between the two, our core proposal is to study the associations between identity markers and knowledge claims at the sentence level to make transparent how and by whom they are articulated. The nuance gained deepens our understanding of the discursive construction of identity and knowledge, shedding light on the links between identity polarisation and the politicisation of facts.