Terrorism to me...it’s a sneaky way... it’s not like war.

A discourse-dynamic metaphor analysis of concepts of group identity and empathy in a discussion about terrorism.

Lynne Cameron and Robert Maslen

The Open University

Developing methods across funded research projects

Project 1: Perception and Communication of the Risk of Terrorism (ESRC)

Project 2: Living with Uncertainty (ESRC/AHRC)

Outline

Project 1 data and methods Using project 1 as a starting point for

project 2 Project 2 methods Findings Further work

Project 1

24 month project with researchers from several disciplines, blended methods and several stages.

Funded by UK Economic and Social Research Council “New Security Challenges Programme” How do people conceptualise, interpret and assess background terrorist risk?

Research Question: How do people conceptualise, interpret and assess

background terrorist risk?• Is there variation between groups, differentiated by

socio-economic status, gender, place of residence, religious affiliation? What do they have in common?

Project 1 data

12 focus groups with members of the public

Total participants: 96

Socio-economic status: AB = professional, skilled jobs C1/C2 = manual, semi- or unskilled jobs

AB

MenAB

WomenC1/C2

Men

C1/C2

WomenMuslim

MenMuslim Women

Total

Leeds 8 8 8 8 8 8 48

London 8 8 8 8 8 8 48

Metaphor Analysis

Transcription of audio recording to intonation units (Chafe, 1994; du Bois et al, 1993).

Identification of linguistic metaphor vehicles (Cameron, 2003) .. if they were living in some sort of stability, I would say it’s a flaw in the system

12,905 linguistic metaphors. Finding systematicity: constructing groups

of connected metaphors

Identifying systematic metaphors

BALANCE IS THE NORM FOR SOCIETYTERRORISM DISTURBS THE BALANCE

.. if they were living in some sort of stability, (Leeds CD Men)

because normal Muslims aren't like this (Leeds CD Women)

the world is out of balance (London AB Women)

it settles down (London Muslim Women)

they try to disrupt the government (London Muslim Women)

upsets the fragile peace (Leeds Muslim Men)

Identifying systematic metaphors

THE RISK OF TERRORISM IS A GAME OF CHANCEPEOPLE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER OUTCOMES

we get caught up in a poker game (London AB Men)

they will play the bluff (London AB Men)

the odds are very high (Leeds Muslim Women)

if your number’s up (London AB Men)

pawns in a game (Leeds CD Men)

Metaphor analysis: methodological challenges

Working with large amounts of data Trustworthiness

TrainingReliability checkingTension between interpretation and

rigour The nature of metaphor

boundaries

Men make more use than Women of gaming metaphors to talk about the risks of terrorism. ***

Muslim Men make much less use than non-Muslim Men. ***

Muslim Women make little or no use of these. **

THE RISK OF TERRORISM IS A GAME OF CHANCE

PEOPLE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER OUTCOMES

BALANCE IS THE NORM FOR INDIVIDUAL / SOCIETY

Women make more use of BALANCE metaphors, speaking of norms for individuals and social groups as a balance, norm or equilibrium. ***

Project 2 Living with Uncertainty: Metaphor and the dynamics of empathy in discourse Opening up possibilities for alternative

responses to uncertainty Research Fellowship with linked

project activities Phase 1: Perceptions of other people

in times of threat: Empathy and metaphor in focus group discussions

Research Question

How do focus groups use metaphor and other language strategies to construct, negotiate and resist empathy in respect of other social groups?

Empathy

Emotional empathy Perspective taking Moral/ethical positioning

Project 2 data

Project 1 focus group data Already coded and analysed for

metaphor

Terry if they were that brave, .. surely they'd say <Q right, .. this is our team, .. that's your team, … crack on Q> []xx XXTerry but they don't,

.. because they hide in the woodwork.

xx mm.xx mm.Finn well who's to --

who's --who's <X to draw up

X> the teams?.. who's to say,which is the --which is on --who's on which team?

Building on the metaphor analysis

Adding deictic metaphors (here/there, this/that)

it’s not that these groups were not there,

they were there all the time,

they were there here in --

in England also.

Building on the metaphor analysis

SOCIAL LANDSCAPE metaphorsAcross previous vehicle groupingsLandscape related Topics: social life, social groups

terrorism to me it’s a sneaky way

(the government is) moving away from the situation,

SOCIAL LANDSCAPE

SOCIO-CULTURAL DIFFERENCE IS PHYSICAL SEPARATION…divide the society,I mean it'll divide -- invisible walls now]],

..being ..built.

SOCIAL LANDSCAPE MODEL

Other language strategies related to empathy across social groups

Explicit expression of empathy Perspective taking Narratives Scenarios Labelling Reference shifting

SCENARIO

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared.

CODA

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared.

LABELLING

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster...but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared.

METAPHORS

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence, has suddenly.. disappeared.

METAPHORS-SOCIAL LANDSCAPE

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened. s-lthat suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence, has suddenly.. disappeared. s-l

PERSPECTIVE TAKING

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared.

EMPATHY

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared.

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened.

that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.

..but now they particularly feel it.

..so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared.

my children suddenly have realised,

that,

..not only they are British,

..they are British Muslims.

.. that is ..what has happened. s-l that suddenly they have realised,

<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.

..until now,

they were living,

… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster...but now they particularly feel it...so that,

..age of innocence,

has suddenly.. disappeared. s-l

Closing remarks

Methods promising route to answering research question

Further workApply to remaining 11 groupsCompare findingsConnect empirical findings to

theoretical model of empathy

Thank you http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/livingwithuncertainty

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