an article by Jennifer K. Lynch (University of Hertfordshire, England), Jon Glasby (University of Birmingham, England) and Suzanne Robinson (Curtin University, Australia) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 39 Issue 1 (February 2019)
Abstract
Telecare – services employing technology to monitor people’s movement, medication and home environment at a distance – has emerged as a key component of global social care and health policies.
The relationship between policies about telecare and the experiences and aspirations of service users has been under-interrogated.
This article draws on findings from an organisational case study involving people living with complex conditions using various telecare devices and employs Hajer’s (1995) concept of argumentative discourse analysis to identify two key storylines arguing that telecare improves people’s quality of life and promotes independence.
While these storylines point to seemingly logical and incontestable objectives, uncritical policy and practice fails to recognise and prioritise the aspirations of service users, leading to unintended consequences that can deepen people’s isolation and minimise organisational benefits.
Showing posts with label discourse_analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discourse_analysis. Show all posts
Friday, 15 February 2019
Monday, 13 October 2014
Framing fraud: Discourse on benefit cheating in Sweden and the UK
an article by Ragnar Lundström (Umeå University, Sweden) published in European Journal of Communication Volume 28 Number 6 (December 2013)
Abstract
This article analyses discourse on benefit fraud in Swedish and British newspapers. It furthermore compares discourse on fraud in newspapers and political blogs in the two countries. In Sweden, fraud is primarily articulated as a collective social problem in policy discussions related to the health insurance programme. In the UK, it is often articulated employing strategies commonly associated with crime news narratives, and centred on images of individual cheaters.
The main result of the analysis presented here is that these observed differences between British and Swedish media representations are related to the ways in which the relationship between the welfare state and the citizens traditionally have been constructed in liberal and social democratic contexts respectively. Political attempts to highlight the issue of benefit fraud, and dominant media representations of such attempts, must therefore be understood not as attempts to combat fraud, but rather as attempts to delegitimise the more general aim and purpose of the welfare state.
They challenge the deservingness of welfare recipients in general, not just the ones that cheat, and they thereby transform the conditions for public trust in the welfare state. News discourse on fraud in both countries establishes a neoliberal, financialised and individualised notion of welfare dependency, through which the relationship between social and structural circumstances on the one hand, and poverty, exclusion and inequality on the other, become blurred.
The comparison of newspapers and blogs suggests that although dominant media representations are contested through citizen-created journalism in both contexts, they also limit the conditions for discursive struggles over the issue of benefit fraud significantly.
Abstract
This article analyses discourse on benefit fraud in Swedish and British newspapers. It furthermore compares discourse on fraud in newspapers and political blogs in the two countries. In Sweden, fraud is primarily articulated as a collective social problem in policy discussions related to the health insurance programme. In the UK, it is often articulated employing strategies commonly associated with crime news narratives, and centred on images of individual cheaters.
The main result of the analysis presented here is that these observed differences between British and Swedish media representations are related to the ways in which the relationship between the welfare state and the citizens traditionally have been constructed in liberal and social democratic contexts respectively. Political attempts to highlight the issue of benefit fraud, and dominant media representations of such attempts, must therefore be understood not as attempts to combat fraud, but rather as attempts to delegitimise the more general aim and purpose of the welfare state.
They challenge the deservingness of welfare recipients in general, not just the ones that cheat, and they thereby transform the conditions for public trust in the welfare state. News discourse on fraud in both countries establishes a neoliberal, financialised and individualised notion of welfare dependency, through which the relationship between social and structural circumstances on the one hand, and poverty, exclusion and inequality on the other, become blurred.
The comparison of newspapers and blogs suggests that although dominant media representations are contested through citizen-created journalism in both contexts, they also limit the conditions for discursive struggles over the issue of benefit fraud significantly.
Monday, 7 January 2013
Discourses of widening participation in the prospectus documents and websites of six English higher education institutions
an article by Claire Graham (University of Leicester, UK) published in British Journal of Sociology of Education
Volume 34 Issue 1 (January 2013)
Abstract
This article provides a comparative analysis of the discourses of widening participation used in the prospectus documents and websites of six English higher education institutions (HEIs).
Taking 2007 and 2011 as snapshots, the article considers the nature of the messages being communicated to prospective students by the different HEIs in the context of the changing policy landscape.
Critical discourse analysis is used to interpret the ways in which the case-study HEIs discursively positioned themselves and their prospective students – and the potential implications of this for widening participation practice.
In 2007, the findings suggested sharp demarcations between the discourses chosen by the elite pre-1992 and the more accessible post-1992 institutions.
By 2011, however, statements of commitment to widening participation were less overt in the post-1992 institutions, whilst there was some evidence of a shift towards a more inclusive tone by the elite universities.
Abstract
This article provides a comparative analysis of the discourses of widening participation used in the prospectus documents and websites of six English higher education institutions (HEIs).
Taking 2007 and 2011 as snapshots, the article considers the nature of the messages being communicated to prospective students by the different HEIs in the context of the changing policy landscape.
Critical discourse analysis is used to interpret the ways in which the case-study HEIs discursively positioned themselves and their prospective students – and the potential implications of this for widening participation practice.
In 2007, the findings suggested sharp demarcations between the discourses chosen by the elite pre-1992 and the more accessible post-1992 institutions.
By 2011, however, statements of commitment to widening participation were less overt in the post-1992 institutions, whilst there was some evidence of a shift towards a more inclusive tone by the elite universities.
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Trust me, I'm an expert: identity construction and knowledge sharing
an article by Lesley Crane (University of Derby) published in Journal of Knowledge Management Volume 16 Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge management (KM) is a global organizational practice that focuses on core questions around knowledge sharing and creation, and which is characterized by definitional issues and a schism over the nature of knowledge. Against this by definition problematic background, this study aims to investigate how KM practitioners construct identities as expert in an online discussion forum, showing how knowledge sharing is inextricably linked to identity construction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a discourse analytic approach, grounded in the discourse psychology paradigm, and its underlying theory that all language, including both talk and text, is situated action in social interaction, marked by variation, function and consequences.
Findings
Analysis demonstrates how forum contributors deploy discursive devices constructively, actively and relationally to formulate membership of an expert élite group, and that group membership is marked by inter-group competitive rivalry. This has synergies with the theory of creative abrasion.
Practical implications
The study has implications for KM theories and practice in showing how attention to the social-interaction practices of talk and text can reveal deeper understanding of how people share knowledge, and in demonstrating the important and consequential relationship between identity construction and knowledge.
Originality/value
This is among the first studies to take a discursive approach to the study of language in the KM domain, and demonstrates the rich potential for future studies.
Purpose
Knowledge management (KM) is a global organizational practice that focuses on core questions around knowledge sharing and creation, and which is characterized by definitional issues and a schism over the nature of knowledge. Against this by definition problematic background, this study aims to investigate how KM practitioners construct identities as expert in an online discussion forum, showing how knowledge sharing is inextricably linked to identity construction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a discourse analytic approach, grounded in the discourse psychology paradigm, and its underlying theory that all language, including both talk and text, is situated action in social interaction, marked by variation, function and consequences.
Findings
Analysis demonstrates how forum contributors deploy discursive devices constructively, actively and relationally to formulate membership of an expert élite group, and that group membership is marked by inter-group competitive rivalry. This has synergies with the theory of creative abrasion.
Practical implications
The study has implications for KM theories and practice in showing how attention to the social-interaction practices of talk and text can reveal deeper understanding of how people share knowledge, and in demonstrating the important and consequential relationship between identity construction and knowledge.
Originality/value
This is among the first studies to take a discursive approach to the study of language in the KM domain, and demonstrates the rich potential for future studies.
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