Voice, Agency and Resistance: Emancipatory Discourses in Action

Abstract

Drawing on data from Africa, Latin America, North America, and the Arab Levant, this book demonstrates how members of marginalized (disempowered) groups sculpt a positive image for themselves, engage in solidarity formation for group empowerment, and (re)construct their experiences in a manner that gives them voice, agency, and a positive identity. It argues for a more interventionist stance in ideologically oriented discourse analysis and demonstrates why (critical) discourse analysts must not only expose and resist the inequities or injustices in society but, more crucially, also adopt an activist-scholar posture in order to push for positive social change.

The book brings into focus: (a) how discourse can be used to center the voice and agency of minority groups, (b) how feminists re-make gender relations in our world, (c) how non-dominant groups actively resist injustices and discriminatory discourses directed against them, (d) how discourse can be used to advance the goals of repressed groups in order to instigate progressive social change, and (e) access to forms of discourse that can be empowering for marginalized groups’ participation in social domains. It will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics in (critical) discourse studies, communication, and media studies as well as non-academics such as activists, journalists, and sociopolitical commentators. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Critical Discourse Studies.

Introductory Chapter Abstract: This Special Issue provides a collection of cutting-edge research that examines discourses that serve emancipatory agendas by taking a social justice approach. To this end, the issue draws on data from Africa, Latin America, North America and the Arab Levant to illuminate how members of non-dominant and marginalized (disempowered) groups sculpt a positive image for themselves, engage in solidarity formation for group empowerment and reconstruct their experiences in a manner that gives them voice, agency and a positive identity. The issue argues for a more interventionist stance in ideologically oriented discourse analysis and demonstrates why (critical) discourse analysts must not only expose and resist the inequities or injustices in society but, more crucially, also adopt an activist-scholar posture in order to push for positive social change.

• Book Type: Edited Book
• Online Publication Date: Mar 31, 2023
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 1, 2025
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• ISBN: 9781032447407
• Keywords: critical discourse analysis, emancipatory discourse, non-dominant or minority groups, language and identities, voice and agency
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10630112
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/Voice-Agency-and-Resistance-Emancipatory-Discourses-in-Action/Nartey/p/book/9781032447407