Emeritus Professor Norman Fairclough
Emeritus Professor
Degree: (London), MA (London), PhD (Lancaster), Honorary Doctorate (Jyväskylä), Honorary Doctorate (Aalborg), Emeritus Professor, Emeritus Research Fellow (Institute for Advanced Studies).
Associated research centres and groups: Institute for Advanced Studies
Current Teaching
I no longer have a formal teaching programme, but I contribute to a course in Critical Discourse Analysis on the MA in British Cultural Studies in Bucharest, and teach intensive courses in CDA at doctoral level (most recently in Denmark) which are adapted to interdisciplinary social research, and are suitable for research students in a variety of social science disciplines and areas. I will also be contributing as of autumn 2006 to a new research MA at the Academy of Economic Sciences in Bucharest.
Research Interests
Since the early 1980s, my research has focused on critical discourse analysis - including the place of language in social relations of power and ideology, and how language figures in processes of social change. My main current interest is in language (discourse) as an element in contemporary social changes which are referred to as 'globalisation', 'neo-liberalism', 'new capitalism', the 'knowledge economy' and so forth. Over the past three years I have been working specifically on aspects of 'transition' in Central and Eastern Europe , especially Romania , from a discourse analytical perspective.
This research is based upon the theoretical claim that discourse is an element of social life which is dialectically interconnected with other elements, and may have constructive and transformative effects on other elements. It also makes the claim that discourse has in many ways become a more salient and potent element of social life in the contemporary world, and that more general processes of current social change often seem to be initiated and driven by changes in discourse. Discourse analysis, including linguistic analysis, therefore has a great deal more to contribute to social research than has generally been recognised, especially when integrated into interdisciplinary research projects.
My own recent contribution to this research has included three main elements:
- Theoretical development of critical discourse analysis to enhance its capacity to contribute to this area of social research (eg Fairclough 1992, Chouliaraki & Fairclough 1999, Fairclough 2001, Fairclough, Jessop & Sayer 2004);
- Developing approaches to linguistic analysis of texts and interactions which are adapted to social research (eg Fairclough 2003a, 2004a)
- Application of this theory and method in researching aspects of contemporary social change (eg Fairclough 1995a/b, Fairclough 2000, Chiapello & Fairclough 2002, Fairclough 2006a)
I have maintained research contacts with Lancaster since my retirement through collaborative projects in the Institute for Advanced Studies and the Linguistics department on the 'knowledge-based economy', the Bologna reforms of higher education in Europe , and 'moral economy'.
Recent & Forthcoming Plenary Lectures
October 2004 International Conference on Discourse Analysis, Hangzhou, China
March 2005 Conference on English and Cultural Studies, University of Brasov
May 2005 International Conference on Discourse Analysis and Social Change, Palermo May 2005 IADA International Conference, Bucharest
June 2005 First International Conference on Discourse of Post-Communism, Wolverhampton
December 2005 International Sociolinguistics Conference, Guangzhou
February 2007 Italian Applied Linguistics Association, Milan
June 2007 Second International Conference on Discourse of Post-Communism, Gdansk
September 2007 British Association of Applied Linguistics Annual Meeting, Edinburgh
Publications Books:
Language and Power, London: Longman 1989 (second revised edition 2001)
Discourse and Social Change, Cambridge: Polity Press 1992
Critical Language Awareness (edited volume), London: Longman 1992
Media Discourse, London: Edward Arnold 1995a
Critical Discourse Analysis, London: Longman 1995b
Discourse in Late Modernity - Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 1999 (with Lilie Chouliaraki)
New Labour, New Language? London: Routledge, 2000
Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research, London: Routledge 2003a
Language and Globalization, London: Routledge 2006a
Discourse in Contemporary Social Change (co-edited volume), Peter Lang 2007
Some recent articles:
The contribution of discourse analysis to research on social change, in Fairclough N, Cortese P, Ardizzone P (eds) Discourse in Contemporary Social Change Peter Lang 2007
Strategy and discourse in globalization and development, in Dobrescu P, Taranu, A & Bargaoanu A (eds) Globalization and Policies of Development National School of Political Science and Publ;ic Administration, Bucharest 2007
(with Simon Pardoe & Bronislaw Szerszynski) Critical discourse analysis and citizenship, in H. Hausendorf & A. Bora (eds) Analyzing Citizenship Talk, John Benjamins 2006b 98-123
Discursive transition in Central and Eastern Europe, in Shi-xu (ed) Discourse as Cultural Struggle Hong Kong University Press 2006c 49-72
Semiosis, mediation and ideology: a dialectical view, in I Lassen, J Strunck & T Vestergaard eds Mediating Ideology in Text and Image: Ten Critical Studies John Benjamins 2006d
Building bridges and overcoming barriers? Discourse analysis as transdisciplinary research, in Anna Duszak / Urszula Okulska (eds.) Bridges and barriers in metalinguistic discourse. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang 2006e 305-322
Critical discourse analysis in trans-disciplinary research on social change: transition, re-scaling, poverty and social inclusion, Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 1 2005 37-58
Critical discourse analysis, Marges Linguistiques 9 2005a 76-94
Blair's contribution to elaborating a new doctrine of 'international community', Journal of Language and Politics 4.1 2005b, pages 41-63
Critical discourse analysis, organizational discourse, and organizational change, Organization Studies 26 2005c 915-939
Critical discourse analysis in transdisciplinary research, in R Wodak & P Chilton eds. A New Agenda in (Critical) Discourse Analysis Amsterdam: John Benjamins 2005d 53-70
Critical Discourse Analysis in Researching Language in the New Capitalism: Overdetermination, Transdisciplinarity and Textual Analysis, in L. Young & C Harrison (eds) Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis, Continuum 2004a 103-122
Semiotic aspects of social transformation and learning, in R. Rogers (ed) An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education Lawrence Erlbaum 2004b 225-235
(with P Thomas) The globalization of discourse and the discourse of globalization, in D Grant, C Harvey, C Oswick & L Putnam eds The Sage Handbook of Organizational Discourse Sage 2004c 379-396
(with R Jessop, A Sayer) Critical realism and semiosis, in J Joseph & J Roberts (eds) Realism, Discourse and Deconstruction, Routledge 2004d 23-42
Political correctness, Discourse & Society 14.2 2003b
(with Eve Chiapello) Understanding the new management ideology. A transdisciplinary contribution from Critical Discourse Analysis and New Sociology of Capitalism. Discourse & Society 13.2 2002
(with Phil Graham) Marx as critical discourse analyst: the genesis of a critical method and its relevance to the critique of global capital Estudios de Sociolinguistica 3.1 2002, pages 185 - 229
The dialectics of discourse Textus XIV.2 2001, pages 231-242
Papers for Downloading
The following papers can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format:
Transition, patriarchy and 'room-service feminism' in Romania: a critical discourse analysis perspective (unpublished paper given to a conference on Gender and Language, Athens 2005)
Governance, partnership and participation: cooperation and conflict (Unpublished paper given at the conference of the International Association for Dialogue Analysis, Bucharest 2005)
Critical discourse analysis in trans-disciplinary research on social change: transition, re-scaling, poverty and social inclusion, Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 1 2005 37-58
Critical discourse analysis, Marges Linguistiques 9 2005 76-94
Blair's contribution to elaborating a new doctrine of 'international community', Journal of Language and Politics 4.1 2005, pages 41-63
Critical discourse analysis, organizational discourse, and organizational change, Organization Studies 26 2005 915-939
The dialectics of discourse Textus XIV.2 2001a, pages 231-242
Associated Keyword: Language
View all research activities, ePrints, news and events associated with Norman Fairclough.