Complicity in Discourse and Practice

1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-032-07288-3
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 134 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 182 g

Reihe: Routledge Focus on Applied Linguistics

It is commonplace to say that we are living in troubled times. Liberal democracy is in crisis. Academic freedom is seriously constrained. The media offers less insight and analysis than could be expected given the proliferation of communication tools. Based on decades of research into the social and ideological functioning of discourse and with a focus on politics, universities, and the media, Jef Verschueren offers an analysis of current practices, asks whether we are all complicit, and makes suggestions for what we can do.

Central to this book is the notion of derailed reflexivity, referring to the observation that politics, institutions, and news reporting tend to be excessively aimed at public opinion, impression management, and clicks, to the detriment of policies addressing social justice issues, high-quality service, and media content. Highlighting that education is the cornerstone for democratic choices and ensures that we can critically assess media content, this book shows that shared responsibility can be a source of hope and that everyone has the power to intervene.

Complicity in Discourse and Practice is a call to action for readers and a plea for actively minding the ecology of the public sphere.

Zielgruppe

General, Postgraduate, and Professional

Autoren/Hrsg.

Verschueren, Jef

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Kommunikationswissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PROLOGUE

ONE — IN SOCIETY

Terror and complicity

Ideas, influence, and power

Politics – and where it’s gone

Derailed reflexivity

Enlightened condescension

Walls and borders

Of tongues ordinary and sublime

Identity

Political respect

Solidarity

TWO — AT THE UNIVERSITY

Winners and losers

An academic cytokine storm

Totalitarianism light

THREE — THROUGH THE MEDIA

The information funnel

Reflexivity on display

Info on demand

Asocial media

RECAP — SHARING RESPONSIBILITY

PROSPECT — AN ECOLOGY OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE?

Über Autor(innen)

Jef Verschueren is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the University of Antwerp and Secretary General of the International Pragmatics Association