The discourse of digital activism: A linguistic analysis of calls for action concerning the Fashion Revolution

De Cock, Barbara;Aulit, Laetitia;Cigada, Sara;Greco, Sara;Palmieri, Rudi;et.al.
(2024) Applied Linguistics — Vol. 45, n° 6, p. 1091-1110 (2024)

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Abstract
In this study, we analyze the calls for action in a corpus of tweets with the hashtag #FashionRevolution, related to the 2020 Fashion Revolution week. We offer a linguistic analysis of the discourse of digital activism, relying on insights from pragmatics, discourse analysis, and argumentation. Our analysis focuses on the calls for action concerning the move towards a more sustainable fashion system, issued by account owners that do not have any impositive force on their audience. This leads us to showing that a variety of actors call for action through an imperative but also through other deontic structures. However, those responsible for carrying out the actions towards a fashion revolution are often left vague, in line with overall campaigning strategies. The motive for the call for action, crucial to convince, appears sometimes in an argument and/or through a reference to social or environmental sustainability. Through this case study, we then contribute to the linguistic analysis of digital activism, and to a better understanding of the challenges of bringing about behavioral change from a non-impositive position.
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De Cock, B., Aulit, L., Cigada, S., Greco, S., Modrzejewska, E., & Palmieri, R. (2024). The discourse of digital activism: A linguistic analysis of calls for action concerning the Fashion Revolution. Applied Linguistics, 45(6), 1091-1110. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amae046 (Original work published 2024)