"Just Because It's Legal Doesn't Make It Moral" : A Critical Discourse Analysis of Communication in the Anti-Abortionist Activism of Sidewalk Counseling in the United States

• Main Author: Lidström, Moa
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen 2020
• Subjects: Critical discourse analysis; legitimization; abortion discourse; sidewalk counseling; General Language Studies and Linguistics; Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik; Specific Languages; Studier av enskilda språk
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-189563

Anchored theoretically in critical discourse analysis and by using analytical tools from legitimization theory, this essay explores the communication within one particular kind of anti-abortion activism, called sidewalk counseling. Informed by previous research on abortion discourse, this study critically analyzes transcribed, authentic video material and accounts for legitimization strategies employed in sidewalk counselor language. The aims of this study are to investigate the linguistic make-up of sidewalk counselor communication, as well as how or to what extent sidewalk counselors motivate their activism in their speech, and to explore potential power relations in the communication. The results show that sidewalk counselors use a number of legitimization strategies in their communication, and they also indicate a power structure based in religiousness. Key findings include that appealing to interlocutors’ emotions is the most commonly used strategy by sidewalk counselors in the examined conversations, while referring to a hypothetical future is the least used strategy.