Discourse and Crisis: Critical perspectives brings together an exciting collection of studies into crisis as text and context, as unfolding process and unresolved problem. Crisis is viewed as a complex phenomenon that - in its prevalence, disruptiveness and (appearance of) inevitability - is both socially produced and discursively constituted. The book offers multiple critical perspectives: in-depth linguistically informed analyses of the discourses of power and collaboration implicated in crisis construal and recovery; detailed examination of the critical role that language plays during the crisis life-cycle; and further problematization of the semiotic-material complexity of crisis and its usefulness as an analytical concept. The research focus is on the discursive and interactive mediation of crisis in organizational, political and media texts. The volume contains contributions from across the world, offering a polyphonic overview of 'discourse and crisis' research. This impressive volume will be useful to researchers and academics working on the intersection of crisis, language and communication. It is also of interest to practitioners in organizational management, politics and policy, and media.
1. Acknowledgements; 2. Introduction; 3. Discourse in crisis, crisis in discourse (by De Rycker, Antoon); 4. 'Crisis' in Modernity: A sign of the times between decisive change and potential irreversibility (by Chalozin-Dovrat, Lin); 5. Part I: Organizational discourse; 6. Serving a high-risk warrant: The role of context in police crisis negotiations (by Royce, Terry D.); 7. Misalignments in Finnish emergency call openings: Legitimacy, asymmetries and multi-tasking as interactional contests (by Vaajala, Tiia); 8. Collaboration in crisis: Pursuing perception through multiple descriptions (how friendly vehicles became damn rocket launchers) (by Nevile, Maurice); 9. Part II: Political discourse; 10. The political use of a national crisis: Bush's legitimation of the USA Freedom Corps in the wake of September 11 (by Sandaran, Shanti C.); 11. Reflections in the eyes of a dying tiger: Looking back on Ireland's 1987 economic crisis (by O'Rourke, Brendan K.); 12. Local community leaders' constructions of women's interests and needs: Impeding resolution of Kenya's development crisis (by Ndambuki, Jacinta); 13. The financial crisis hits hard: The impact of emerging crisis on discursive strategies and linguistic devices in EU Financial Stability Reviews (2004-2010) (by Denti, Olga); 14. Part III: Media discourse; 15. Red or Yellow, Peace or War: Agonism and antagonism in online discussion during the 2010 political unrest in Thailand (by Jimarkon, Pattamawan); 16. The 2008 urban riots in Greece: Differential representations of a police shooting incident (by Dimitris Kitis, E.); 17. Benefit or burden?: Press representation of immigrant workers during the Spanish economic recession (by Alonso Belmonte, Isabel); 18. Mexico City and the H1N1 health crisis: The discursive interconnectedness of viruses, murders, policy fiascos and tumbling pesos (by Matus-Mendoza, Mariadelaluz); 19. Polarization in the media representation of terrorism crises: Transitivity and lexical choices in Malaysia's leading English dailies (by Lean, Mei Li); 20. Epilogue; 21. A paradoxical approach to crisis (by Priestley, Jamie); 22. Notes on contributors; 23. Name index; 24. Subject index
