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Centering marginalized voices: A discourse analytic study of the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter

Nartey, Mark

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Authors

Mark Nartey



Abstract

Recent studies on non-dominant or minority groups have begun to look at how their members reconstruct resistance, sculpt a positive identity for themselves and engage in solidarity formation for group empowerment. The present study contributes to this growing scholarship by examining the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement’s use of Twitter to promote an emancipatory agenda for Black communities/people. Based on the tweets produced by the BLM movement, I analyze various discursive mechanisms utilized by the movement to resist institutional oppression and systemic racism with vehemence, while advocating freedom, liberation and justice for Black people. Three discursive strategies were identified: (1) critiquing oppressive institutions and systemic racism, (2) denouncing white supremacy and redefining demeaning racial narratives and (3) calling out racist attitudes and commending people who oppose such behavior. Through these strategies, the BLM movement amplifies the voice(s) of Black people and moves issues concerning their development, progress and welfare from the margins to the center. The paper illustrates the agentive power of discourse to stimulate action towards social change.

Citation

Nartey, M. (2022). Centering marginalized voices: A discourse analytic study of the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter. Critical Discourse Studies, 19(5), 523-538. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2021.1999284

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 5, 2021
Online Publication Date Nov 7, 2021
Publication Date Nov 30, 2022
Deposit Date Jan 8, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Critical Discourse Studies
Print ISSN 1740-5904
Electronic ISSN 1740-5912
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 19
Issue 5
Pages 523-538
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2021.1999284
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/8539118

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Critical Discourse Studies:
Nartey, M. (2022). Centering marginalized voices: a discourse analytic study of the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter. Critical Discourse Studies, 19(5), 523-538. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2021.1999284. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.





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