Cover not available
Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 12:3 (2013) ► pp.445–473

Citizenship, community, and counter-terrorism

UK security discourse, 2001–2011

| University of Warwick
| University of St Mark & St John
| Institute of Education, University of London

This paper analyses a corpus of UK policy documents which sets out national security policy as an exemplar of the contemporary discourse of counter-terrorism in Europe, the USA and worldwide. A corpus of 148 documents (c. 2.8 million words) was assembled to reflect the security discourse produced by the UK government before and after the 7/7 attacks on the London Transport system. To enable a chronological comparison, the two sub-corpora were defined: one relating to a discourse of citizenship and community cohesion (2001–2006); and one relating to the ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ discourse (2007–2011). Wordsmith Tools (Scott 2008) was used to investigate keywords and patterns of collocation. The results present themes emerging from a comparative analysis of the 100 strongest keywords in each sub-corpus; as well as a qualitative analysis of related patterns of the collocation, focusing in particular on features of connotation and semantic prosody.

Keywords: security, counter-terrorism, citizenship, community, cohesion, corpus, Prevent, extremism
Published online: 27 September 2013
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.12.3.07mac
References
Anderson, Benedict R.O’G
(2006) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Appleby, Nick
2010 “Labelling the Innocent: How Government Counter-terrorism Advice Creates Labels that Contribute to the Problem.” Critical Studies on Terrorism 3 (3): 421–436. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2010.521643. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Paul, Costas Gabrielatos, Majid Khosravinik, Michal Krzyzanowski, Tony McEnery, and Ruth Wodak
2008 “A Useful Methodological Synergy? Combining Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics to Examine Discourses of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK Press.” Discourse and Society 19 (3): 273–306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926508088962. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Paul
(2006) Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Bauman, Zygmunt
(2001) Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Bhatia, Aditi
2009 “The Discourses of Terrorism.” Journal of Pragmatics 41 (2): 279–289. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cameron, David, and Nick Clegg
(2010) Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review. London: Cabinet Office.Google Scholar
Cantle, Ted
(2001) Community Cohesion: A Report of the Independent Review Team. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Cantle, Ted, Daljit Kaur, Mohammed Athar, Chris Dallison, Andy Wiggans, and Joshua Harris
(2006) Challenging Local Communities to Change – A Review of Community Cohesion in Oldham: Final Report. London: Institute of Community Cohesion.Google Scholar
Chang, Gordon C., and Hugh B. Mehan
2008 “Why We Must Attack Iraq: Bush’s Reasoning Practices and Argumentation System.” Discourse and Society 19 (4): 453–482. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926508089939. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cole, P.
2011 “Introduction: ‘Border Crossings’ – The Dimensions of Membership.” In Citizenship Acquisition and National Belonging Migration, Membership and the Liberal Democratic State, ed. by G. Calder, P. Cole, and J. Seglow, 1–23. London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Collins
2006 Collins COBUILD Dictionary, 5th edn. Glasgow: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Community Cohesion Unit
2004 Building Community Cohesion into Area Based Initiatives. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Commission on Integration and Cohesion
2007 Our Shared Future, Final Report of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion. London.Google Scholar
Cooper, Charlie
(2008) Community, Conflict and the State: Rethinking Notions of ‘Safety’, ‘Cohesion’ and ‘Wellbeing’. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Beaugrande, Robert
2004 “Critical Discourse Analysis from the perspective of Ecologism.” Critical Discourse Studies 1 (1): 113–145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405900410001674542. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Denham, John
2001 Building Cohesive Communities – A Report of the Internal Departmental Ministerial Group on Public Order and Community Cohesion. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Department for Communities and Local Government (DLCG)
2007 Preventing Violent Extremism – Winning Hearts and Minds. London.Google Scholar
2009 Understanding Muslim Ethnic Communities. Available at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/research/racecohesionfaith/understandingmuslimcommunities/
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
2004 Bringing Communities Together through Sport and Culture. London.Google Scholar
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
2009a Learning Together to be Safe: A Tool-kit to Help Colleges Contribute to the Prevention of Violent Extremism. London.Google Scholar
2009b Promoting Good Campus Relations: Fostering Shared Values and Preventing Violent Extremism in Universities and Higher Education Colleges, 2nd edn. London.Google Scholar
Fairclough, Norman
(2000) New Labour, New Language. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Freake, Rachelle, Guillaume Gentil, and Jaffer Sheyholislami
2011 “A Bilingual Corpus-assisted Discourse Study of the Construction of Nationhood and Belonging in Quebec.” Discourse and Society 22 (11): 1–27.Google Scholar
Gabrielatos, Costas, and Paul Baker
2008 “Fleeing, Sneaking, Flooding: A Corpus Analysis of Discursive Constructions of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK Press 1996–2005.” Journal of English Linguistics 36 (1): 5–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gales, Tammy
2009 “‘Diversity’ as Enacted in US Immigration Politics and Law: A Corpus-based Approach.” Discourse Society 20 (2): 223–240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926508099003. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Graham, Phil, Thomas Keenan, and Anna-Maree Dowd
2004 “A Call to Arms at the End of History: A Discourse–Historical Analysis of George W. Bush’s Declaration of War on Terror.” Discourse and Society 15 (2–3): 199–222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957926504041017. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halliday, Michael, and Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen
2004 An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 3rd revised edn. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Hammonds, Will
(2008) Study on the Best Practices in Cooperation between Authorities and Civil Society with a View to the Prevention and Response to Violent Radicalisation. London: Department of Communities and Local Government.Google Scholar
Home Office
2003 Prevent Strategy. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
2005 Community Cohesion, Seven Steps, a Practitioner’s Toolkit. London.Google Scholar
2006 CONTEST: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism. London.Google Scholar
2009a CONTEST: Countering International Terrorism: The United Kingdom’s Strategy. London.Google Scholar
2009b Prevent Strategy. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
2009c Prevent Strategy (Part 2). London: Home Office.Google Scholar
2011a CONTEST: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism. London.Google Scholar
2011b Prevent Strategy. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee
2010 Preventing Violent Extremism. London: House of Commons.Google Scholar
Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo)
2011 About Community Cohesion. Available at: http://www.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/Resources/AboutCommunityCohesion
Jarvis, Lee
(2009) Times of Terror: Discourse, Temporality and the War on Terror. Basingstoke: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Richard
2002 “Defending ways of life: the (anti-)terrorist rhetorics of Bush and Blair.” Theory, Culture and Society 19 (4): 211–231.Google Scholar
Kellard, Karen, Leighton Mitchell, and David Godfrey
(2008) Preventing Violent Extremism Path-finder Fund: Mapping of Project Activities 2007/2008. London: Department for Communities and Local Government.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, W.
(1995) Multicultural Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lawrence, Andrew
(2008) Better Together. London: iCoCo and the Department of Health.Google Scholar
Local Government Association (LGA)
2008 Putting People First: Leading the PVE Agenda: A Role Made for Councillors. London.Google Scholar
2009 Leading the Preventing Violent Extremism Agenda. Available at: http://resources.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/Publications/ Documents/Document/Download Documents File.aspx?recordId=154&file= PDFversion
Lukacs, George
1923/1967 History and Class Consciousness. Merlin Press.Google Scholar
McGhee, Derek
(2008) The End of Multiculturalism?: Terrorism, Integration and Human Rights. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Meadows, Bryan
2007 “Distancing and Showing Solidarity via Metaphor and Metonymy in Political Discourse: A Critical Study of American Statements on Iraq during the Years 2004–2005.” Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines 1 (2): 1–17.Google Scholar
Mulderrig, J.
2011a “The Grammar of Governance.” Critical Discourse Studies 8 (1): 45–68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011b “Manufacturing Consent: A Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis of New Labour’s Educational Governance.” Journal of Educational Philosophy and Theory 431: 562–578. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Office for Public Management
2005 New Horizons: An Exploration of the Challenges Posed by Future Trends in Segregation and Polarisation. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.Google Scholar
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
2006 Promoting Effective Citizenship and Community Empowerment: A Guide for Local Authorities on Enhancing Capacity for Public Participation. London.Google Scholar
Ofsted
2006 Towards Consensus? Citizenship in Secondary Schools. London: Department of Education.Google Scholar
Osler, Audrey, and Hugh Starkey
(2005) Changing Citizenship: Democracy and Inclusion in Education. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Parekh, Bhikhu
(2000) Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Phillips, Chris, Daniel Tse, and Fiona Johnson
2011 Community Cohesion and PREVENT: How Have Schools Responded? London: Department for Education.Google Scholar
Preston, J.
2009 “Preparing for Emergencies: Citizenship Education, ‘Whiteness’ and Pedagogies of Security.” Citizenship Studies 13 (2): 187–200. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13621020902731223. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scott, Mike
2008 Wordsmith Tools Version 5. Liverpool: Lexical Analysis Software Ltd.Google Scholar
Scott, Mike, and Chris Tribble
(2006) Textual Patterns: Key Words and Corpus Analysis in Language Education. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Simone, Maria A
2009 “Give Me Liberty and Give Me Surveillance: A Case Study of the US Government’s Discourse of Surveillance.” Critical Discourse Studies 6 (1): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405900802559977. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Staiger, U.
2009 “New Agendas? Culture and Citizenship in EU Policy.” International Journal of Cultural Policy 15 (1): 1–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, C.
1994 “Politics of Recognition.” In Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, ed. by A. Guttmann, 25–74. Princeton, NJ: Princeton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Dijk, Teun A
2001 “Critical Discourse Analysis.” In Handbook of Discourse Analysis, ed. by Deborah Tannen, Deborah Schiffrin, and Heidi Hamilton, 357–371. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Vantagepoint
2003 Community Cohesion Pathfinder Programme – The First Six Months. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.Google Scholar
Warraich, Shaukat
(2008) Preventing Violent Extremism: Working Groups. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Williams, Raymond
(1976) Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Glasgow: Fontana.Google Scholar
Wodak, Ruth, Rudolf De Cillia, Martin Reisigl, Karin Liebhart, and Johnny Unger
(2009) The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 7 other publications

Lischka, Juliane A.
2017. Explicit terror prevention versus vague civil liberty: how the UK broadcasting news (de)legitimatise online mass surveillance since Edward Snowden’s revelations. Information, Communication & Society 20:5 ► pp. 665 ff. DOI logo
MacDonald, Malcolm N. & Duncan Hunter
2019. Discourse of Cohesion and Security. In The Discourse of Security, ► pp. 165 ff. DOI logo
Rasmussen, Joel
2015. ‘Should each of us take over the role as watcher?’ Attitudes on Twitter towards the 2014 Norwegian terror alert. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 10:2 ► pp. 197 ff. DOI logo
Ryazanova-Clarke, Lara
2016. Linguistic Violence in Contemporary Russian Public Discourses. Zeitschrift für Slawistik 61:1 ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
Salerno, Daniele
2017. The politics of response to terror: the reshaping of community and immunity in the aftermath of 7 July 2005 London bombings. Social Semiotics 27:1 ► pp. 81 ff. DOI logo
Taylor, Bryan C., Hamilton Bean, Ned O’Gorman & Rebecca Rice
2017. A fearful engine of power: conceptualizing the communication–security relationship. Annals of the International Communication Association 41:2 ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo
Tiulegenov, Medet
2019. Official Discourses on Peace and Security in Post-Soviet Central Asia. In The Palgrave Handbook of Global Approaches to Peace, ► pp. 411 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 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.