The Moro Morality Play: Terrorism as Social Drama.

Crowdfunding platforms as conduits for ideological struggle and extremism: On the need for greater regulation and digital constitutionalism

“…Critical discourse analysis explores relations between, ‘(1) discursive practices, events and texts and (2) wider social and cultural structures … to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power’ (Fairclough, 1995, p. 132). To this end, we focus on socio‐epistemological claims regarding the validity of the Freedom Convoy's cause, specifically those ‘interpretations pronounced during an event that turn back … to actually shape it as it unfolds’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986; see also Wagner‐Pacifici, 2017). These discursive tussles and ‘successful crediting or discrediting of interpretations’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986) between the protestors and other actors regarding what the Freedom Convoy even was proved crucial in either resisting or justifying drastic interventions by both platforms and the state.…”

“…To this end, we focus on socio‐epistemological claims regarding the validity of the Freedom Convoy's cause, specifically those ‘interpretations pronounced during an event that turn back … to actually shape it as it unfolds’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986; see also Wagner‐Pacifici, 2017). These discursive tussles and ‘successful crediting or discrediting of interpretations’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986) between the protestors and other actors regarding what the Freedom Convoy even was proved crucial in either resisting or justifying drastic interventions by both platforms and the state. The Freedom Convoy was effectively a ‘morality play’ and ‘social drama’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986), with the occupiers attempting to garner popular support against their claimed oppression, while government authorities dismissed these claims to victimhood, framing key participants as dangerous radicals with potentially insurrectionist intent.…”

“…These discursive tussles and ‘successful crediting or discrediting of interpretations’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986) between the protestors and other actors regarding what the Freedom Convoy even was proved crucial in either resisting or justifying drastic interventions by both platforms and the state. The Freedom Convoy was effectively a ‘morality play’ and ‘social drama’ (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986), with the occupiers attempting to garner popular support against their claimed oppression, while government authorities dismissed these claims to victimhood, framing key participants as dangerous radicals with potentially insurrectionist intent. Although criminal and civil proceedings are ongoing at the time of writing, this study's primary focus is the real‐time contestation over an event laden with combustive potential, tracing how platforms attempt to carefully frame shared perceptions in ways that emphasise their responsible upholding of core values and principles.…”

“…In addition, we analyzed GoFundMe and GiveSendGo's public pronouncements during this period, through their respective Twitter accounts and blog posts, to examine how they articulated their policies and values in relation to the Freedom Convoy. Although GoFundMe were reticent to make public announcements—only doing so when the reputational harm of silence was greater—GiveSendGo posted frequently, eagerly keen to shape the ‘aesthetic structuring of the event’ in the wider discursive sphere (Wagner‐Pacifici, 1986). This study therefore also adopts a multimodal analytical lens (Kress, 2012), observing how GiveSendGo's evocative social media content stoked popular support as a bulwark against state intervention, earnestly rallying ‘affective publics’ (Papacharissi, 2015) for what they envisioned was an epoch‐defining stand against censorship and oppression.…”

Farewell to genre: Plot, meaning, and eudaemonic paths in social narratives

“…While a good deal of research on social narratives has concentrated simply on the difference between narrative and non-narrative discourse, much of the remaining scholarship -both within and outside of the social sciences -has pointed to the special relationship between a social narrative's meaning and its so-called genre (Bruner, 1990;MacIntyre, 1984;Maines, 1993;Mink, 1987;White, 1980). Those who have gone furthest in analyzing this relationship have argued that the genre of social narratives can facilitate or thwart compromise between social groups (Wagner-Pacifici, 1986), precipitate or forestall war (Smith, 2005), lead to collective action or political defeatism (Jacobs, 2001;Polletta et al, 2011), and engender or obviate a sense of moral responsibility (Alexander, 2003;Eyerman, 2001). But for all that insight, there is considerable muddiness surrounding the central concept of genre, itself.…”