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Journal of Language and Politics: Online-First Articles

Discourse Theory and Strategic Communication

A long-expected party

ORCID logo | UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles
This contribution explores the nexus between Discourse Theory and Strategic Communication. Traditional positivist and rationalist approaches to business, economics, politics, and management often marginalize strategic communication as merely instrumental; whereas discursive approaches, and Discourse Theory in particular, recognize its constitutive role in shaping social realities. This contribution therefore argues for the development of a discourse-theoretical approach to Strategic Communication, highlighting its potential to offer new insights and understandings. It first examines existing uses of the notion of discourse in Strategic Communication, before discussing Discourse Theory’s potential added value to its study. Next, it emphasizes the importance of Discourse Theory scholars engaging with Strategic Communication topics. Finally, two examples contrasting non-discursive and discourse-theoretical approaches are presented, focusing respectively on populism and authenticity in corporate marketing campaigns. Overall, this paper advocates for a deeper integration of Discourse Theory within the study of Strategic Communication.
Keywords: discourse, Laclau, Mouffe, strategy, Strategic Communication, Discourse Theory, poststructuralism, political strategy
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.State of the art
  • 3.Why a discourse-theoretical approach to Strategic Communication?
    • 3.1Defining Strategic Communication comprehensively
    • 3.2A monistic ontology that ‘goes all the way down’
    • 3.3Methodological compatibility
  • 4.Why Strategic Communication as a research object in Discourse Theory?
    • 4.1Tackling the ‘harder’ topics
    • 4.2Expediting hands-on empirical research
    • 4.3Power and critique
  • 5.Studying Strategic Communication in a discourse-theoretical manner: Populism and marketing
    • 5.1Populism and political strategy
    • 5.2Authenticity, marketing, and corporate strategy
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 7 January 2025
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.24199.jac
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