Discursive power and the new labor force: the metamorphosis of a speech community

Miles, Christopher

doi:10.1080/14708470903348507

“…There is already an emerging engagement with these issues which often uses a case study approach. For example, Miles's (2010) study describes ways in which the identity of a multilingual male French citizen of Senegalese descent adopts the role of a mediator between immigrant workers and the native-English speakers within a multinational corporation situated in the USA. And Alison Phipps's (2010) keynote conference speech to the International Association of Languages and Intercultural Communication gave a powerful account of a young Eritrean women struggling to gain political asylum in the UK.…”

Section: Current Contributions and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Agenda for Intercultural Communication Research and Practice

MacDonald¹,

O’Regan²

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Intercultural Communication

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This chapter identifies key issues and topics in intercultural communication set out in preceding chapters and places them in the wider context of globalization and transnational mobility. It goes on to outline contributions that have been made in recent intercultural communication research, to highlight trends in research methods, and to propose areas where further work can be carried out.These are tied in with some suggestions for pedagogic practice and continuing professional development, and we conclude with some thoughts about the possible future of intercultural communication.Paradoxically, two concepts which remain problematic in intercultural communication are the idea of culture itself, and the ways in which this relates to the identities of human actors. As we have seen in this volume, the nation state is still often regarded as the default signifier of cultural identification, although its centrality to the conceptualization of culture and to intercultural communication is contested (Holliday 2011). First, there are 'cultures' with which individuals identify that both exceed and traverse the boundaries of the nation state. These include pan-national geographical and political groupings Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin.

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“…As has previously been stated (Blommaert, 2005, p. 233), CDA and ethnographic approaches can be combined to draw upon the strengths and combat the weaknesses inherent in each. There is a fairly recent and rich history of critical ethnographic work in sociolinguistics from which my research orientation has been drawn (Blommaert, 2005;Kwon, Clarke, & Wodak, 2009;Miles, 2010;Wodak & Fairclough, 2010). As an interpretive approach, CDA may bear issues of validity and objectivity which ethnography can help combat by encouraging the researcher to develop a more emic perspective.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Greenwash: Environmental Discourses of Appropriation and Resistance

Kidner¹

0

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<p>A multimodal, critical approach to Discourse allows us to understand contemporary environmental debates in a nuanced way. Fossil fuel mining has become especially controversial due to the environmental, health, and social impacts, as well as the substantial economic dependence on such development. Wider discussions surrounding mining projects tend to diverge into two major oppositions: that of the industry itself, and that of local activists protesting development on their lands. Research in these areas has leaned towards a focus on the use of environmental language by polluting industries, termed ‘greenwash’, missing to some degree the ways in which these and other Discourses are articulated multimodally through interaction. This thesis brings a critical, multimodal analysis to controversial mining debates which go ‘beyond greenwash’, in order to track how Discourses are appropriated, resisted, and re-entextualised. In this thesis I adopt overlapping critical, multimodal, and ethnographic theoretical lenses to view interaction surrounding two controversial mining case studies: the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada and a lignite coal mine expansion in Southland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Drawing upon an understanding of human communication as inherently multimodal, I include video-recorded interviews with both activists and industry representatives, as well as relevant artefacts (such as pamphlets, photographs, signs, etc) in my dataset. Using mediated action as the unit of analysis, I employ Multimodal Interaction Analysis to examine interview interaction, coupled with methods from Social Semiotics to interrogate designed artefacts. These analytical frameworks, viewed through combined theoretical lenses, provide a unique perspective on the way Discourses are appropriated and creatively resisted in debates about resource development. In both case studies, Discourses of the environment and the economy are appropriated by activists and industry actors, forming the basic ‘Environment v. Economy’ Discourse. This dichotomy is expanded through the appropriation of additional Discourses, such as regional identity in both Southland and Alberta. Activist groups subsequently resist and re-appropriate these regional Discourses by multimodally re-contextualising them. In Alberta, additional Discourses of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ identities are appropriated by industry actors in attempts to legitimise mining expansion. While some of these appropriations draw upon ideas of intersecting oppressions, mining industries fail to adequately address the ways in which resource extraction contributes to those oppressions. However, these actions are both recognised and resisted by local anti-tar sands activists, who use public events and designed artefacts to display their opposition and reappropriate Discourses. Although both case studies are concerned with similar types of fossil fuel extraction, there are notable differences. Whereas Discourses of the environment, the economy, and regional identity are both appropriated and resisted in Southland and Alberta, it appears that in Alberta, industry actors draw upon a wider variety of Discourses. This may be due, in part, to the fact that the Athabasca tar sands controversy has had a longer development period and more international resistance, meaning there is more pressure to legitimise new and ongoing projects. This has led to a type of ‘discursive arms race’, where wider Discourses are appropriated as other, more directly-linked, Discourses are exhausted (e.g. the environment). In response, activists in both Southland and Alberta make use of creativity and humour in mundane performances to enact satirical representations of powerful industry actors. While these performances occur regularly in many of my interviews, activists in Alberta also tend to stage elaborate and humorous theatrics in order to criticise government and industry approaches to fossil fuel development. The unique framework employed in this thesis has resulted in a number of research implications. These include the combination of Critical Discourse Analysis with a multimodal, ethnographic approach, and the coupling of Multimodal Interaction Analysis with Social Semiotics to expand my analytical reach. Additionally, I have made use of a variety of modes in this thesis’ presentation, in order to exploit each mode’s affordances and better represent the complexity of my dataset. Finally, from a critical perspective, this research offers an agenda of empowerment for environmental justice activist groups struggling to protect their lands.</p>

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Beyond Greenwash: Environmental Discourses of Appropriation and Resistance

Kidner¹

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>A multimodal, critical approach to Discourse allows us to understand contemporary environmental debates in a nuanced way. Fossil fuel mining has become especially controversial due to the environmental, health, and social impacts, as well as the substantial economic dependence on such development. Wider discussions surrounding mining projects tend to diverge into two major oppositions: that of the industry itself, and that of local activists protesting development on their lands. Research in these areas has leaned towards a focus on the use of environmental language by polluting industries, termed ‘greenwash’, missing to some degree the ways in which these and other Discourses are articulated multimodally through interaction. This thesis brings a critical, multimodal analysis to controversial mining debates which go ‘beyond greenwash’, in order to track how Discourses are appropriated, resisted, and re-entextualised. In this thesis I adopt overlapping critical, multimodal, and ethnographic theoretical lenses to view interaction surrounding two controversial mining case studies: the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada and a lignite coal mine expansion in Southland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Drawing upon an understanding of human communication as inherently multimodal, I include video-recorded interviews with both activists and industry representatives, as well as relevant artefacts (such as pamphlets, photographs, signs, etc) in my dataset. Using mediated action as the unit of analysis, I employ Multimodal Interaction Analysis to examine interview interaction, coupled with methods from Social Semiotics to interrogate designed artefacts. These analytical frameworks, viewed through combined theoretical lenses, provide a unique perspective on the way Discourses are appropriated and creatively resisted in debates about resource development. In both case studies, Discourses of the environment and the economy are appropriated by activists and industry actors, forming the basic ‘Environment v. Economy’ Discourse. This dichotomy is expanded through the appropriation of additional Discourses, such as regional identity in both Southland and Alberta. Activist groups subsequently resist and re-appropriate these regional Discourses by multimodally re-contextualising them. In Alberta, additional Discourses of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ identities are appropriated by industry actors in attempts to legitimise mining expansion. While some of these appropriations draw upon ideas of intersecting oppressions, mining industries fail to adequately address the ways in which resource extraction contributes to those oppressions. However, these actions are both recognised and resisted by local anti-tar sands activists, who use public events and designed artefacts to display their opposition and reappropriate Discourses. Although both case studies are concerned with similar types of fossil fuel extraction, there are notable differences. Whereas Discourses of the environment, the economy, and regional identity are both appropriated and resisted in Southland and Alberta, it appears that in Alberta, industry actors draw upon a wider variety of Discourses. This may be due, in part, to the fact that the Athabasca tar sands controversy has had a longer development period and more international resistance, meaning there is more pressure to legitimise new and ongoing projects. This has led to a type of ‘discursive arms race’, where wider Discourses are appropriated as other, more directly-linked, Discourses are exhausted (e.g. the environment). In response, activists in both Southland and Alberta make use of creativity and humour in mundane performances to enact satirical representations of powerful industry actors. While these performances occur regularly in many of my interviews, activists in Alberta also tend to stage elaborate and humorous theatrics in order to criticise government and industry approaches to fossil fuel development. The unique framework employed in this thesis has resulted in a number of research implications. These include the combination of Critical Discourse Analysis with a multimodal, ethnographic approach, and the coupling of Multimodal Interaction Analysis with Social Semiotics to expand my analytical reach. Additionally, I have made use of a variety of modes in this thesis’ presentation, in order to exploit each mode’s affordances and better represent the complexity of my dataset. Finally, from a critical perspective, this research offers an agenda of empowerment for environmental justice activist groups struggling to protect their lands.</p>

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Discursive power and the new labor force: the metamorphosis of a speech community

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

A Global Agenda for Intercultural Communication Research and Practice

A Global Agenda for Intercultural Communication Research and Practice

Beyond Greenwash: Environmental Discourses of Appropriation and Resistance

Beyond Greenwash: Environmental Discourses of Appropriation and Resistance

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