Coping with the meaninglessness of politics : citizenspeak in the 2001 British general elections

Wahl-Jorgensen, Karin (author)

This article examines citizenspeak, or the discourses available to citizens talking about politics. The paper is based on 81 interviews with voters in Bristol, England, during the 2001 British national elections. The paper finds that citizens have a narrow range of discourses to draw on. The dominant type of citizenspeak is that of immobilising discourses, expressing disenchantment with the political process. The second category is that of oppositional discourse, capturing a view of politics as the bastion of elites out to exploit the working classes. Thirdly, the paper discusses cynical chic discourses. The voters who engage in these discourses take pleasure in their superior knowledge of the political process, which allows them to creatively poke fun of it. Fourth, discourses of duty emphasised the importance of voting, despite the shortcomings of representative democracy. Finally, some citizens mastered discourses of relevance: They could speak with engagement about events touching on their own lives. And it is in these discourses that we may find hopes for the revival of citizenship. The paper suggests that to solve the problems of disengagement, we must provide contexts in which it is acceptable to be interested in politics. This, in turn, entails broadening ourdefinition of the political.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2002
• Number of pages: Str. 65-82
• Numbering: Vol. 9, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-75615
• UDC: 659.3/.4
• ISSN on article: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 21464413
• Publication date in RUL: 21.12.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Javnost = The public
• Shortened title: Javnost
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis, European Institute for Communication and Culture
• ISSN: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 40119808

Secondary language

• Language: Unknown
• Title: Obvladovanje mesmiselnosti politike: govor državljanov v britanskih volitvah leta 2001

Abstract

Članek obravnava govor ali diskurze, dostopne državljanom za pogovore o politiki. Temelji na 81 intervjujih z volivci v Bristolu v Angliji v času britanskih parlamentarnih volitev leta 2001. Članek ugotavlja, da imajo državljani majhen razpon diskurzov, iz katerih lahko črpajo. Prevladujoči tip nagovora državljanov so diskurzi imobilizacije, ki izražajo razočaranje nad političnim procesi. Drugi tip je opozicijski diskurz, ki predstavlja politiko kot utrdbo elit za izkoriščanje delavskega razreda. Tretjo kategorijo predstavljajo cinični "chic" diskurzi. Volivci, ki so vključeni v te diskurze,bolje poznajo politične procese, kar jim omogoča, da se iz njih ustvarjalno norčujejo. Četrta skupina so dolžnostni diskurzi, ki poudarjajo pomembnost volitev kljub pomanjkljivostim predstavniške demokracije. Končno nekateri državljani obvladujejo relevantnostne diskurze: angažirano lahko govorijo o dogajanjih, ki zadevajo njihovo življenje. Slednji diskurzi zbujajoupanje za državljanski preporod.