Cover not available
Part of
Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders
Edited by John Wilson and Diana Boxer
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 63] 2015
► pp. 121–148

Chapter 5. Gender and political discourse in Tunisia

| Manouba University

In this article, we explore women’s political discourse in Tunisia since the January 2011 Uprising. We use the Critical Discourse Analysis approach to examine the political discourse and discursive strategies of the major political parties through the lens of the female MPs in the National Constituent Assembly. We first focus on women’s role and participation in politics, their discursive practices in controversial contexts such as gender equality and faith-based issues. Then we use the “Community of Practice” method to address the issue of feminine and gender-identified political discourse and report findings from a survey-based empirical study. The results suggest that women’s empowerment and agency require further political participation achieved through an intersectional perspective that associates gender with poverty and urban/rural inequalities.

Keywords: CDA, Community of Practice, gender and politics, gendered discourse, intersectionality, Tunisian Uprising
Published online: 30 October 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.63.06kam
References
Abdul-latif, E
2011 “Interdiscursivity Between Political and Religious Discourses in a Speech by Sadat.” Journal of Language and Politics 10(1): 50-67. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arfaoui, Khedija
2011 “Women and Education in Tunisia: From Independence to the Jasmine Revolution.” Women’s Studies North and South International . Speech presented at Conference Bellagio Center in Italy, September 13-17.
Arkoun, M
1994 Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers. Boulder: Westview.Google Scholar
Blankenship, J. and D.C. Robson
1995 “A ‘Feminine Style’ in Women’s Political Discourse: An Exploratory Essay.” Communication Quarterly 43(3): 353-66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borovsky G. and Asma Ben Yahia
2012 “Women’s Political Participation in Tunisia After the Revolution. Finding from Focus Groups in Tunisia Conducted February 17-28, 2012.” National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, May 7. [URL]
Campbell, K.K
1995 “Gender and Genre: Loci of Invention and Contradiction in the Earliest Speeches by U.S. Women.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 81(4): 479-95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crenshaw, K.W
1991 “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43(6): 1241–1299. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eckert, P. and S. McConnel-Ginet
1998 “Communities of Practice: Where Language, Gender and Power All Live.” In Language and Gender: A Reader, edited by J. Coates, 484-94. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Fairclough, N
1995 Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
2003 Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for SocialResearch. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Feldman, O
2005 Talking Politics in Japan Today. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.Google Scholar
Holmes, J. and M. Stubb
2003 “‘Feminine’ Workplaces: Stereotypes and Reality.” In The Handbook of Language and Gender, edited by Janet Holmes and Miriam Meyerhof, 573-599. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kammoun, R
2014 “NGOs and Women’s Rights in Tunisia: The Case of the ATFD.” In Non-State Actors in the Middle East: Factors of Peace and Democracy, edited by Galia Golan and Walid Salem, 54-71. NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Maltz, D. and R. Borker
1982 “A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication.” In Language and Social Identity, edited by J.J. Gumperz, 196-216. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Moghadam, V
2013 “What is Politics?” Politics, Groups, and Identities 1(1): 113-115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mullany, L
2007 Gendered Discourse in the Professional Workplace. Basingstoke: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Parry-Giles, Shawn J. and Trevor Parry-Giles
1996 “Gendered Politics and Presidential Image Construction: A Reassessment of the ‘Feminine Style.’” Communication Monographs 63(1): 337-53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramtohul, R
2012 “Globalization, Intersectionality and Women’s Activism: An Analysis of the Women’s Movement in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius.” Critical Studies Seminar Series . Paper presented at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa .
Reisigl, M. and R. Wodak
2009 “The Discourse-Historical Approach.” In Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis, edited by R. Wodak and M. Meyers, 87-121. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Sabbagh, A
2005 “Case Study: The Arab States: Enhancing Women’s Political Participation.” In Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, edited by Julie Ballington and Azza Karam, 52-71. Stockholm, Sweden: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.Google Scholar
Sadiqi, F. and M. Ennaji
2010 Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Agents of Change. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sunderland, J
2009 “Language and Gender in African Contexts.” In Proceedings of the BAAL 2009 Conference, 127-29. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Tannen, D
1994 “The Relativity of Linguistic Strategies: Thinking Power and Solidarity in Gender and Dominance.” In Gender and Discourse, edited by Deborah Tannen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, T.A
1991 Racism and the Press. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
1995 “Aims of Critical Discourse Analysis.” Japanese Discourse 1(1): 17-27.Google Scholar
1997 “What is Political Discourse Analysis.” In Political Linguistics, edited by Jan Blommaert and Chris Bulcaen, 11–52. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2000 “Parliamentary Debates.” In Racism at the Top. Parliamentary Discourses on Ethnic Issues in Six European States, edited by R. Wodak and T.A. van Dijk, 45-78. Klagenfurt, Austria: Drava Verlag.Google Scholar
2004 “Politics, Ideology and Discourse.” In Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, edited by Ruth Wodak, 728-740. Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.Google Scholar
2009 “Critical Discourse Analysis: A Sociocognitive Approach.” In Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis, edited by Ruth Wodak and Michael Meyer, 62-86. London: SageGoogle Scholar
Wenger, E
1998 Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R
2002  Aspects of Critical Discourse Analysis . [URL] - [Accessed on April 2013].
2007a “Discourses in European Union Organizations: Aspects of Access, Participation and Exclusion.” Text and Talk 27(5-6): 655-80. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007b “Pragmatics and Critical Discourse Analysis. A Cross-Theoretical Inquiry.” Pragmatics and Cognition 15(1): 203 -225. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 The Discourse of Politics in Action, Politics as Usual. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R. and M. Meyer
eds. 2009 Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: SageGoogle Scholar
Yuval-Davis, N
2011 “Power, Intersectionality and the Politics of Belonging.” Freie Working Papers Series. 75Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Lumala, Masibo & Louise Mullany
2020. Language, Gender and Leadership: Applying the Sociolinguistics of Narrative and Identity in East Africa. In Professional Communication [Communicating in Professions and Organizations, ], ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.