The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics

by Ruth Wodak (Editor), Bernhard Forchtner (Editor)

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics provides a comprehensive overview of this important and dynamic area of study and research. Language is indispensable to initiating, justifying, legitimatising and coordinating action as well as negotiating conflict and, as such, is intrinsically linked to the area of politics. With 45 chapters written by leading scholars from around the world, this Handbook covers the following key areas:

Overviews of the most influential theoretical approaches, including Bourdieu, Foucault, Habermas and Marx;
Methodological approaches to language and politics, covering – among others – content analysis, conversation analysis, multimodal analysis and narrative analysis;
Genres of political action from speech-making and policy to national anthems and billboards;
Cutting-edge case studies about hot-topic socio-political phenomena, such as ageing, social class, gendered politics and populism.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics is a vibrant survey of this key field and is essential reading for advanced students and researchers studying language and politics.

About the Author
Ruth Wodak is Emerita Distinguished Professor of Discourse Studies at Lancaster University, UK; she remains affiliated to the University of Vienna, Austria.

Bernhard Forchtner is a Lecturer at the School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, UK.

Advisory Board
Adam Jaworski, Hong Kong University
Barbara Johnstone, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Deborah Stone, Brandeis University, USA
Teun van Dijk, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain