Disentangling crisis discourse

Workshop convened by Amelie Kutter and Johnny Unger at Lancaster University, 11th July 2012.

Abstract: “When Osborne launched his scorched earth policies two years ago, it was obvious to all but the most purblind that the recovery he blithely forecast could not happen,” writes Will Hutton in The Observer [Sunday 29 April 2012]. Was it all that obvious? Why then, could these policies unfold? The aim of the workshop “Disentangling Crisis Discourse” is to further understanding of how the financial crisis and its consequences are being communicated and constructed in public, political and everyday discourse. We seek to uncover which concepts and tools in discourse analysis can help us to cut through the jargon-laden buzz around crisis discourse. How can we apply systematic and rigorous analysis to problematise what commentators, journalists, bloggers and even academics take for granted as fact and figure, necessity and truth, in UK and elsewhere?

During the workshop, participants will discuss short pieces of their own analysis of crisis discourse. The workshop will start with a roundtable discussion involving Jason Glynos (University of Essex), Andrew Sayer (Lancaster University), and Ruth Wodak (Lancaster University). They will show how the analysis of crisis discourse can be approached from their particular perspectives of the Logics Approach (Jason Glynos), Moral Economy (Andrew Sayer), and the Discourse Historical Approach (Ruth Wodak).