Discourse

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Humanities and Social Sciences

Kinds of Discourse

  • academic discourse
  • alternative discourse
  • changing discourse
  • classroom discourse
  • colonial discourse
  • competing discourse
  • contemporary discourse
  • contemporary political discourse
  • critical discourse
  • cultural discourse
  • current discourse
  • development discourse
  • different discourse
  • dominant discourse
  • educational discourse
  • ethical discourse
  • global discourse
  • historical discourse
  • human right discourse
  • legal discourse
  • local discourse
  • management discourse
  • media discourse
  • medical discourse
  • moral discourse
  • multiple discourse
  • national discourse
  • nationalist discourse
  • neoliberal discourse
  • new discourse
  • nursing discourse
  • official discourse
  • organizational discourse
  • philosophical discourse
  • policy discourse
  • political discourse
  • professional discourse
  • psychoanalytic discourse
  • public discourse
  • religious discourse
  • right discourse
  • scholarly discourse
  • scientific discourse
  • social discourse
  • theological discourse
  • welfare discourse
  • western discourse

  • Terms modified by Discourse

  • discourse analysis
  • discourse ethics
  • discourse structure
  • discourse theory
  • discourse used

  • Selected Abstracts


    ,SPRACHKULTUR' IN LAY AND ACADEMIC DISCOURSE IN MODERN GERMANY1

    GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 4 2008
    Winifred V. Davies
    ABSTRACT The term ,Sprachkultur' is common in German-language academic and lay discourse, but what exactly does it mean? Is it used in the same way by trained and lay linguists? This article defines the term and traces its history, before going on to compare and contrast its use by both groups. Data taken from lay-linguistic works are analysed and two recurring motifs (i. the link between morality and linguistic usage and ii. accuracy/clarity) are discussed to see what light they throw on conceptions of language and language use. The concluding section sums up the similarities and differences between lay and academic linguists. The latter tend to concentrate on ,Sprachgebrauchskultur' whereas the former are prepared to criticise the language system as well. The stress laid by lay linguists on accuracy and the link between morality and linguistic choices reflects a ,telementational' view of language which has major shortcomings, and appears to be rooted in a world-view that equates diversity with cultural and ideological fragmentation rather than seeing it as enriching. However, the study of pronouncements by trained linguists shows that their work, too, reflects ideological assumptions about the nature of standard and other varieties of German. [source]


    THE COSMOLOGICAL BASIS OF CHINESE ETHICAL DISCOURSE

    JOURNAL OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2005
    KENNETH K. INADA
    [source]


    PROMETHEUS AND KANT: NEUTRALIZING THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE AND DOXOLOGY

    MODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
    ANTHONY C. SCIGLITANO
    This essay argues that Kant's writings on religion recapitulate or anticipate many of the theoretical moves we find in Promethean discourses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The first portion of the article lays out fundamental elements of Promethean discourse from a theological point of view, and distinguishes between "aggressive" and "urbane" Prometheanism. I contend that both types attack divine transcendence and Christian doxology, focus almost entirely on soteriology to the detriment of creation, and advocate a movement from theo-centric discourse to anthropocentric discourse. Yet urbane Prometheanism differs from its aggressive cousin by moving from hatred of God to a non-dialogical mode of indifference to God as an impotent and inconsequential deity. I argue that an urbane Prometheanism is what properly characterizes Kant's philosophy of religion,from his epistemic work in the first Critique, through his way of parsing theological and philosophical discursive responsibilities, to his actual hermeneutics of Christian doctrine. [source]


    END-OF-LIFE CARE IN THE 21st CENTURY: ADVANCE DIRECTIVES IN UNIVERSAL RIGHTS DISCOURSE

    BIOETHICS, Issue 3 2010
    IREVI, VIOLETA BE
    ABSTRACT This article explores universal normative bases that could help to shape a workable legal construct that would facilitate a global use of advance directives. Although I believe that advance directives are of universal character, my primary aim in approaching this issue is to remain realistic. I will make three claims. First, I will argue that the principles of autonomy, dignity and informed consent, embodied in the Oviedo Convention and the UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, could arguably be regarded as universal bases for the global use of advance directives. Second, I will demonstrate that, despite the apparent consensus of ethical authorities in support of their global use, it is unlikely, for the time being, that such consensus could lead to unqualified legal recognition of advance directives, because of different understandings of the nature of the international rules, meanings of autonomy and dignity which are context-specific and culture-specific, and existing imperfections that make advance directives either unworkable or hardly applicable in practice. The third claim suggests that the fact that the concept of the advance directive is not universally shared does not mean that it should not become so, but never as the only option in managing incompetent patients. A way to proceed is to prioritize work on developing higher standards in managing incompetent patients and on progressing towards the realization of universal human rights in the sphere of bioethics, by advocating a universal, legally binding international convention that would outlaw human rights violations in end-of-life decision-making. [source]


    Minting Common Currency in Contemporary Sustainability Discourse

    CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
    Janet Edghill
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Homosexuality and "Compassionate" Conservatism in the Discourse of the Post-Reaganite Right

    CONSTELLATIONS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRITICAL AND DEMOCRATIC THEORY, Issue 1 2001
    Paul ApostolidisArticle first published online: 16 DEC 200
    [source]


    Teacher Identity and Agency in School Worlds: Beyond the All-Good/All-Bad Discourse on Accountability-Explicit Curriculum Policies

    CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2006
    KRIS SLOAN
    ABSTRACT Drawing on case studies of three elementary school teachers in a diverse urban school setting in Texas, the author explores the varied ways teachers actively read accountability-related curriculum policies and then respond to these policies. Rooted in classroom observations and extensive teacher interviews, the author examines issues of teacher identity and identity formation as a base from which to explore teacher agency vis-à-vis accountability-explicit curriculum policies. His analysis suggests that (1) individual teachers actively read and respond to locally conceived accountability-explicit curriculum policies in varied, perhaps even unique, ways; (2) teacher identities are powerful means through which to understand these varied experiences with and responses to accountability-explicit curriculum policies; and (3) current understandings of teacher agency vis-à-vis accountability-explicit curriculum policies as merely a capacity to resist,as does much of the literature that is critical of accountability,obfuscates important issues of teacher quality and equity. [source]


    ,Who is the Developed Woman?': Women as a Category of Development Discourse, Kumaon, India

    DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2004
    Rebecca M. Klenk
    This article analyses gendered discourses of development in rural North India, and addresses the usefulness of recent scholarship on development as ,discourse' for understanding connections between development and subjectivity. This scholarship is an excellent point of departure for exploring the contradictions inherent in the institutionalization of economic development and the global reach of its discourses, but it has focused primarily upon development as discourse at official sites of deployment, while paying less attention to how specific discourses and processes of development are appropriated by those constituted as beneficiaries of development. The under-theorization of this aspect has meant that the range of processes through which development projects may encourage new subject positions are poorly understood. By investigating what some women in rural Kumaon have made of their own development, this article contributes to emerging scholarship on development and subjectivity with an ethnographic analysis of the polysemic enthusiasm for development expressed by some of its ,beneficiaries'. [source]


    The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Discourse, Policy Controversies and the Role of Science in the Politics of Shrimp Farming Development

    DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 5 2005
    Christophe Béné
    This article revisits through a policy analysis the ongoing debate on shrimp farming aquaculture. It describes the changes in policy orientations that have taken place in recent years, and tries to relate them to the advocacy strategies developed by different networks and policy communities. The analysis reveals in particular the crucial contribution of the ,power of expertise' and shows how it has been instrumentalised by certain advocacy networks to depoliticise the debate. While this has allowed a number of key stakeholders to refocus the debate on technical solutions, it has prevented other groups concerned with more intractable social and political issues from engaging successfully in the policy process, thus leaving the long-term sustainability of aquaculture still a contentious issue. [source]


    Religion, Nature, and Sexual Discourse

    DIALOG, Issue 1 2009
    Whitney Bauman
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    "Help Them Move the ILO Way": The International Labor Organization and the Modernization Discourse in the Era of Decolonization and the Cold War

    DIPLOMATIC HISTORY, Issue 3 2009
    Daniel Maul
    First page of article [source]


    Rendering the World Unsafe: ,Vulnerability' as Western Discourse

    DISASTERS, Issue 1 2001
    Gregory Bankoff
    Disasters seem destined to be major issues of academic enquiry in the new century if for no other reason than that they are inseparably linked to questions of environmental conservation, resource depletion and migration patterns in an increasingly globalised world. Unfortunately, inadequate attention has been directed at considering the historical roots of the discursive framework within which hazard is generally presented, and how that might reflect particular cultural values to do with the way in which certain regions or zones of the world are usually imagined. This paper argues that tropicality, development and vulnerability form part of one and the same essentialising and generalising cultural discourse that denigrates large regions of world as disease-ridden, poverty-stricken and disaster-prone. [source]


    Cultural Models and Metaphors for Marriage: An Analysis of Discourse at Japanese Wedding Receptions

    ETHOS, Issue 3 2004
    CYNTHIA DICKEL DUNN
    This article uses metaphor analysis to delineate the cultural model of marriage expressed in speeches at Japanese wedding receptions. Wedding speakers used three main metaphors for talking about marriage: marriage as a joint creation, marriage as a physical union, and marriage as a journey. These metaphors were used to express a number of themes including the concepts that marriage is a new beginning, requires joint effort and cooperation, is ideally a lasting union, and involves love, trust, and emotional unity. A comparison with earlier studies of U.S. discourse reveals that people in Japan and the United States share many of the same metaphors and ideas about marriage, but differ in their understanding of the "work" required in marriage. Whereas people in the United States talk of the need to "work on" the relationship, particularly through open communication of needs and emotions, speakers at Japanese weddings emphasized the couple "working together" and emotional unity was presented as a part of that cooperation rather than an end in itself. [source]


    Crafting Sociocentric Selves in Religious Discourse in Rural Fiji

    ETHOS, Issue 4 2001
    Associate Professor Karen J. Brison
    This article examines narratives about religious experience among rural Fijians in order to reexamine the claim that Fijians and other Pacific Islanders have "sociocentric selves." Individuals insisted in their narratives that they had actively chosen to commit to churches in order to become more sociocentric. They suggested that sodocentrism was only a satisfying orientation if freely chosen. This article suggests that in our contemporary global village, Fijians choose to adopt a sociocentric orientation to define a worthy place for themselves vis-à-vis urban relatives and Western visitors. [source]


    Some Hypotheses on the Nature of Difficulty and Ease in Second Language Reading: An Application of Schema Theory

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 6 2000
    Philip C. Hauptman
    A traditional view of difficulty/ease is explained as consisting of two factors: (1) Language (grammar and vocabulary) and (2) Text Length. A modern view of difficulty/ease is then proposed via four hypotheses: (1) The first Primary Ease Factor in L2 reading is background knowledge; (2) Signalling becomes the Primary Ease Factor in L2 reading when background knowledge is not useful for accessing content schemata; (3) Other factors being equal, the degree of signalling determines the degree of accessibility of a text for the L2 reader; and (4) Other factors being equal, Language, Discourse, and Length are of secondary importance , after Background Knowledge and Signalling , for accessing a text by L2 readers. [source]


    Masturbation and Discourse on Female Sexual Practices in Early Modern Japan

    GENDER & HISTORY, Issue 1 2009
    Anne Walthall
    Much of the discourse on female sexual practices in early modern Japan centred on masturbation, usually with a dildo, deemed necessary for a woman's mental and physical health when the male member was unavailable. References to female same-sex relations suggest that they too made sense in situations where men were absent. Some sex manuals treated female sexual arousal within the context of conjugal relations, while a text written for wives in polygamous marriages places female sexual practice at the service of male interests. The texts analysed here show not only that early modern Japanese held different attitudes toward sex than their western counterparts, but also that they could hold multiple attitudes at the same time. [source]


    ,Land Moves and Behaves': Indigenous Discourse on Sustainable Land Management in Pichataro, Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico

    GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3-4 2003
    Narciso Barrera-Bassols
    ABSTRACT An ethnoecological study was carried out in the Purhepecha community of San Francisco Pichataro, west central Mexico, with the purpose of investigating how land degradation, in terms of soil erosion and fertility depletion, was (and still is) handled by indigenous farmers so that traditional agriculture could remain sustainable over centuries. After briefly reviewing opposite views on the land degradation issue in the regional context of the Patzcuaro lake basin, the paper focuses on land management at local level. The indigenous concept of land is discussed as an integrated whole, including water cycle, climate, relief and soils. Indigenous people venerate land as the mother of all living beings, including humans. Therefore, people's health and survival require good land care and management. Local knowledge on land management is organized around four basic principles: land position, land behaviour, land resilience and land quality. Fanners recognize land as a dynamic subject, a concept reflected in the expression ,land moves and behaves'. Soil erosion and fertility depletion are perceived as ,normal' processes the farmers control by means of integrated management practices. Farmers recognize several land classes, primarily controlled by landscape position, which require different land care. The example of San Francisco Pichataro demonstrates that traditional agriculture does not necessarily lead to land degradation. But the collective knowledge, or social theory, on land management is increasingly exposed to be fragmented as the community undergoes structural changes and loses its social cohesion under the pressure of externalities such as off-farm activities, out-migrations and governmental intervention, among others. [source]


    On the Genealogy of Moral Pleasure1

    GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2009
    Duncan Large
    ABSTRACT This article explores the problematic relation between pleasure and morality in German thought, from the Enlightenment aesthetics of the eighteenth century through to early twentieth-century psychoanalysis. Specifically, by focusing on the status and function of pleasure in the moral analyses of Kant, the post-Kantians Schiller and Schopenhauer, then Nietzsche and finally Freud, it argues for a shift in emphasis, over this period, from the moral evaluation of pleasure to a recognition of the pleasurable value of morality. Along the way, it traces the German reception of the Discourse on the Nature of Pleasure and Pain (1773,81) by the Milanese philosopher and economist Pietro Verri. [source]


    How Historians Begin: Openings in Historical Discourse

    HISTORY, Issue 320 2010
    TREVOR DEAN
    Why is the problem of beginning , much discussed in literary scholarship , not dealt with in similar depth by historians? This article attempts an answer to this question, and does so in three ways. First, it examines literary scholarship on textual openings, showing the various ways in which the beginning is given significance. Then, it examines and challenges the common presentation of historical discourse as distinct from fiction. Finally, it examines two sets of data: the openings of 100 historical monographs are analysed for their ,fictionality', and the openings of 200 research articles are analysed for their rhetorical structures. [source]


    The Experienced Traveller as a Professional Author: Friedrich Ludwig Langstedt, Georg Forster and Colonialism Discourse in Eighteenth-Century Germany

    HISTORY, Issue 317 2010
    CHEN TZOREF-ASHKENAZI
    The aim of this article is to show the centrality of the concept of experience in the cultural industry of travel writing in eighteenth-century Germany as well as examining the influence of British colonial discourse on German interpretations of the non-European world. The first aim is achieved through analysing the literary career of Friedrich Ludwig Langstedt, who on the basis of a five-year stay in India, was able to claim the status of expert on the non-European world and become the author of many books on a variety of subjects related to travel. His case is compared to that of Georg Forster, whose career was similarly shaped by the experience of travel. Both of them represent relatively rare examples in the eighteenth century of literary agents with actual experience in travel outside Europe. The second aim is achieved through an analysis of Langstedt's interpretations of India, showing how his support for East India Company rule was based on uncritical borrowings from British sources. A comparison with Forster's more critical treatment of British colonialism in India shows that Forster was much influenced by British sources. [source]


    Taming Madness: Moral Discourse and Allegory in Counter-Reformation Spain

    HISTORY, Issue 315 2009
    MARÍA TAUSIET
    In the early modern period, madness assumed an important role in European thought and to a certain extent replaced the obsession with death which had characterized the preceding centuries. Like death before it, madness was seen as a means of accessing truth, but this was now an incomplete truth full of ambivalence and ambiguity since folly was being reclaimed as a relative form of reason. This article examines how this new vision of madness influenced Spanish thought in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Overall, it can be said that the positive and liberating view of madness, as conveyed by Erasmus, predominated in Spain until the end of the sixteenth century. Thereafter, the spirit of the Counter-Reformation tried gradually to constrain the omnipresent madness, associating it with the most reprehensible of vices, while understanding sanity to be the cultivation of Christian virtues. Despite attempts by a reductionist moral discourse to tame madness, however, it proved to be an unmanageable beast which continued to multiply and display a thousand and one difference faces. [source]


    From "Wops and Dagoes and Hunkies" to "Caucasian": Changing Racial Discourse in American Classrooms during World War II

    HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2010
    Zoë Burkholder
    First page of article [source]


    Educational Discourse and the Making of Educational Legislation in Early Upper Canada

    HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2010
    Anthony Di Mascio
    First page of article [source]


    "Tower, Am I Cleared to Land?": Problematic Communication in Aviation Discourse

    HUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008
    John W. Howard III
    This study examined problematic communication in pilot,air traffic controller (ATC) interaction. More than 15 hours of pilot,ATC dialogue were collected by monitoring control tower frequencies at 15 U.S. airports. The transcribed data yielded a total of 34 ATCs, 270 pilots, and 1,799 turns of talk. Analyses revealed that (a) communication problematics manifested in pilot turns more than ATC turns, (b) higher amounts of information led to increased problematic communication in the subsequent turn, and (c) linguistic violations of ATC protocol increased problematic communication in the subsequent turn. Partial support was found for the effect of frequency congestion on problematic communication. No effect was observed for airport size on problematic communication. The discussion addresses the significance of protocol deviations and system constraints for problematic communication. Applications for the findings in pilot,ATC radio interaction are also suggested. Résumé « Tour de contrôle, suis-je autoriséà atterrir? » : Communication à problèmes dans le discours de l,aviation Cette recherche a étudié la communication à problèmes en interaction pilote-contrôleur aérien. Plus de 15 heures de dialogue pilote-contrôleur aérien furent recueillies grâce au suivi des fréquences des tours de contrôle de 15 aéroports des États-Unis. Un total de 34 contrôleurs aériens, 270 pilotes et 1799 tours de parole se retrouvent dans les données retranscrites. Les analyses ont révélé que a) les problèmes de communication se sont manifestés dans les tours de parole des pilotes plutôt que dans les tours de parole des contrôleurs aériens, b) une plus grande quantité d'information menait à plus de communication à problèmes dans le tour de parole subséquent et c) les violations linguistiques du protocole des contrôleurs aérien augmentaient la communication à problèmes au tour de parole subséquent. L,analyse appuie en partie l'effet de l,encombrement des fréquences sur la communication à problèmes. La taille de l'aéroport n,a pas eu d'effet observable sur la communication à problèmes. La discussion aborde l'importance des déviations du protocole et des contraintes de système pour la communication à problèmes. Il est aussi suggéré des applications des résultats aux interactions radio entre pilotes et contrôleurs aériens. Abstract "Tower, darf ich landen?" Problematische Kommunikation im Luftfahrtsdiskurs Diese Studie befasst sich mit der Untersuchung von problematischer Kommunikation zwischen Pilot und Fluglotse. Durch die Beobachtung der Luftüberwachung an 15 U.S.-amerikanischen Flughäfen konnten mehr als 15 Stunden Dialog zwischen Pilot und Fluglotse zusammengetragen werden. Die transkribierten Daten lieferten 34 Fluglotsen, 270 Piloten und 1799 Gesprächsfolgen. Die Auswertung zeigte, dass (a) Kommunikationsprobleme eher auf Seiten der Piloten als der Fluglotsen zu finden waren, (b) eine größere Informationsmenge zu vermehrter problematischer Kommunikation im darauf folgenden Dialogteil führte und c) linguistische Übertretungen des Fluglotsenprotokolls ebenfalls zu vermehrter problematischer Kommunikation beim darauf folgenden Dialogteil führte. Die Flughafengröße hatte keinen Einfluss auf problematische Kommunikation. In der Diskussion wird die Bedeutsamkeit von Protokollabweichungen und Bedingungen des Systems für die problematische Kommunikation erörtert und die Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der Ergebnisse für die Funkinteraktion zwischen Pilot und Fluglotse vorgeschlagen. Resumen "Torre, ¿Está Despejado Para Aterrizar?": La Comunicación Problemática en el Discurso de la Aviación Este estudio examina la comunicación problemática en la interacción entre el piloto y la torre de control de tráfico de aire (ATC). Más de 15 horas de diálogos entre pilotos y ATC fueron coleccionados mediante el monitoreo de las frecuencias de la torre de control de 15 aeropuertos en los Estados Unidos. Los datos transcriptos resultaron en un total de 34 ATC, 270 pilotos, y 1799 turnos de conversación. Los análisis revelaron que (a) la comunicación problemática se manifestaba más en los turnos de los pilotos que en los turnos de los ATC, (b) mayores niveles de información llevaron a un incremento de la comunicación problemática en los turnos subsecuentes, y (c) las violaciones lingüísticas al protocolo del ATC incrementó la comunicación problemática en los turnos subsecuentes. Se encontró apoyo parcial para el efecto de frecuencia de congestión en la comunicación problemática. No se observó efecto alguno entre el tamaño del aeropuerto y la comunicación problemática. En la discusión, se trata la significancia de las desviaciones del protocolo y las constricciones del sistema sobre la comunicación problemática. Las aplicaciones de estos hallazgos en la interacción entre pilotos y la radio del ATC son sugeridas también. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source]


    Aesthetics in Crisis: Feminist Attempts to Create an Interdisciplinary Discourse

    HYPATIA, Issue 4 2003
    Estella Lauter
    First page of article [source]


    Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management's Commitment to Scientific Discourse

    INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2006
    Dr. Lawrence Barnthouse
    [source]


    Supporting Pupils with Dyspraxia in the Visual Arts Does Drawing from Observation Function as an Official and Discriminatory Discourse?

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007
    Claire Penketh
    This article examines the demands that pupils with dyspraxia may face when engaging with the secondary art and design curriculum in a mainstream secondary school. It explores the possibility that there is an exclusive approach to art and design, prioritising a formalist approach to the teaching of specific skills and mastery of techniques, and considers the implications that this may have for such pupils. Specific attention is paid to the role of observational drawing and the demands that this may make for pupils with dyspraxia. The article will explore existing guidance offered for subject-based practitioners and aims to contextualise this within the current debates on art and design education and the recollections of individual experiences of art and design. It will outline the hypothesis that pupils with dyspraxia may be one group of pupils amongst many for whom their art and design experience does not offer an inclusive experience, and it seeks to question the existence of a hierarchy of practice and its subsequent relevance. [source]


    Mumbai's Mysterious Middle Class

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2006
    JAN NIJMAN
    Mumbai forms the décor to an interesting set of relationships among economic liberalization, globalization, class restructuring and an unprecedented housing construction boom. The much talked about new Indian middle class is primarily an urban phenomenon and seems nowhere more salient than in India's commercial capital and largest city. This article seeks to undo some of the mysteries that surround the new middle class: how it can be empirically defined, whether and how it is growing, how class restructuring in Mumbai conforms (or not) to Western arguments about social polarization, and how any such class restructuring can best be explained. The empirical analysis employs existing data from various sources on income and consumption in Mumbai (and India at large) and reports on selected findings from a recent survey by the author on housing, class and upward mobility among households in newly constructed homes in Greater Mumbai. Data on the distribution of household incomes show that the upper-middle income classes have grown relative to the total, that the lower-middle income classes have shrunk, and that the ranks of the poor have expanded slightly. Survey data among new home buyers in Mumbai suggest little upward mobility. Discourse about the ,new middle class' tends to focus on consumption rather than income and additional findings indicate that much of the growth in consumption is credit-based. [source]


    Experiencing Conversations: Bridging the Gap between Discourse and Activity

    JOURNAL FOR THE THEORY OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, Issue 3 2008
    ANNALISA SANNINO
    ABSTRACT The article introduces the Vygotskian tradition in the realist theoretical discussion of the structure-agency problem. Archer's concept of internal conversation is discussed in terms of internalization and externalization of conversational dynamics. The article addresses in particular the methodological issue of observing how external events trigger internal use of language, and how these internal dynamics are externalized. The experience of talk is proposed as a conceptual key to the understanding of internal conversations and of the relation between structured activity and agency. The experience of talk is defined with the help of the notions of emotional experience, personal sense and inner speech, as they are conceptualized in activity theory and in particular in the works of L.S. Vygotsky and A.N. Leont'ev. Students' experiences of critical conversational events with teachers are analyzed on the basis of written autobiographical accounts. The experience of talk emerges from the analysis as a form of emotional experience in which the horizon of the individual's subjective view relates to specific circumstances external to the individual. Autobiographical accounts of critical conversations are suggested as a type of data which allows access to the experience of talk. [source]


    Online Groups and Political Discourse: Do Online Discussion Spaces Facilitate Exposure to Political Disagreement?

    JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2009
    Magdalena E. Wojcieszak
    To what extent do online discussion spaces expose participants to political talk and to cross-cutting political views in particular? Drawing on a representative national sample of over 1000 Americans reporting participation in chat rooms or message boards, we examine the types of online discussion spaces that create opportunities for cross-cutting political exchanges. Our findings suggest that the potential for deliberation occurs primarily in online groups where politics comes up only incidentally, but is not the central purpose of the discussion space. We discuss the implications of our findings for the contributions of the Internet to cross-cutting political discourse. Resumen Los Grupos Online y el Discurso Político: ¿Facilitan los Espacios de Discusión online la Exposición a los Desacuerdos Políticos? ¿Hasta qué punto los espacios de discusión online exponen a los participantes a hablar de política y sobre sus visiones en temas relevantes de política? Recurriendo a una muestra nacional representativa de más de 1000 Estadounidenses que reportaron haber participado en salones de conversación ó foros de mensajes, examinamos los tipos de espacios de discusión online que crearon oportunidades para intercambios de temas relevantes de política. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el potencial para la deliberación ocurre primariamente en los grupos online donde los temas políticos aparecen solo en forma incidental, pero no es el propósito central del espacio de discusión. Discutimos las implicancias de nuestros hallazgos para las contribuciones del Internet sobre los temas del discurso político relevante. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source]