DiscourseNet Winter School No. 4 | The Transformation and Reproduction of Social Inequalities: Discourse, Power, and Critique
16.01.2019-18.01.2019
University of Valencia, Spain
Today’s world is marked by different forms of power, inequality, exploitation and exclusion. Global inequalities on the level of international political economy as well as more localised inequalities and inequalities along the lines of race, gender, social class and other social categories affect people acting in different social contexts and taking symbolic positions through discursive practices. Financial crises, migration processes, economic and technological changes, political upheavals, ideologies, and transformations in global power relations all take part in reproducing and transforming structures and processes of power and inequality.
The relatively new field of Discourse Studies approaches these social phenomena in a number of ways. Some studies show how power and inequality are (re)produced in micro-practices and interactions, while others focus on inequality and dominance in macro-structures. Often, these investigations take the form of a critique of the social phenomena in question. Importance is also given to the theoretical and empirical investigation of ideology, identities, processes of subjectivation, and frames in texts, spoken communication, gestures or pictures. What the different approaches within Discourse Studies share is a concern for the different ways in which meaning is produced.
The DiscourseNet Winter School brings together advanced MA as well as PhD students (BA students with their own research project are also welcome) who want to pursue research on questions revolving around Discourse, Power and Critique with respect to Social Inequalities and to discuss the methodological and theoretical challenges of their thesis projects or first ideas. Its aim is to bring young and established discourse researchers together to address practical challenges in discourse research. The event will provide a collaborative exchange and hands-on research experience in a rather informal workshop setting. Introductory workshops on the following fields of inquiry will be given by more experienced scholars from the Universities of Giessen, Warwick and Valencia, together with guests from other international universities: