This paper examines reasoning and rhetoric about economic recession in selected newspapers. This is an interesting topic for discourse analysis because it is a site of argumentation. We begin by asking: (1) epistemological questions (e.g. What evidential basis is drawn on in rhetoric about recession?) and then (2) ontological questions (e.g. How is recession pictured? and How is recession coordinated with the social world?). We examine the management of evidence and definitions concerning whether or not there is a recession. We then examine the entities invoked, showing how (a) a range of metaphors depict the recession as either an uncontrollable agent or as a controllable thing; and (b) rhetorical strategies used by both critics and supporters of the government collude in picturing the economy as a realm abstracted from social life.
Agre, P.E. (1988) The Dynamic Structure of Everyday Life. PhD Dissertation. Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Technical Report 1085. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2.
Antaki, C. (1985) `Ordinary Explanation in Conversation: Causal Structures and Their Defence', European Journal of Social Psychology15: 213-230.
3.
Ashmore, M. , Mulkay, M. and Pinch, T. (1989) Health and Efficiency: A Sociological Study of Health Economics. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
4.
Barnes, B. (1988) The Nature of Power. Cambridge: Polity.
5.
Billig, M. (1987) Arguing and Thinking: A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Billig, M. (1988) `Methodology and Scholarship in Understanding Ideological Explanation', in C. Antaki (ed.) Analysis of Everyday Explanation: A Casebook of Methods. London: Sage.
7.
Billig, M. (1991) Ideology and Opinions: Studies in Rhetorical Psychology. London: Sage.
8.
Bowers, J. and Iwi, K. (1993) `The Discursive Construction of Society', Discourse & Society4(3): 357-393.
9.
Connell, I. (1980) `Television News and the Social Contract' in S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe and P. Willis (eds) Culture, Media, Language. London: Hutchinson.
10.
De Greene, K.B. (1988) `Long Wave Cycles of Sociotechnical Change and Innovation: A Macropsychological Perspective', Journal of Occupational Psychology61: 7-23. (Special issue: Technological Change and Innovation.)
11.
Durkheim, É . (1968) The Division of Labour in Society, trans. G. Simpson. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. (Originally published in 1893).
12.
Emmison, M. (1983) `The Economy: Its Emergence in Media Discourse', in H. Davis and P. Walton (eds) Language, Image, Media. Oxford: Blackwell.
13.
Foucault, M. (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge, trans. A.M. Sheridan-Smith. London: Tavistock. (Originally published in 1969.)
14.
Glasgow University Media Group (1980) More Bad News. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
15.
Hall, S. and Jacques, M., eds (1983) The Politics of Thatcherism. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
16.
Jefferson, G. (1990) `List Construction as Task and Resource', in G. Psathas (ed.) Interactional Competence. Washington, DC: University Press of America.
17.
Lave, J. (1986) `The Values of Quantification', in J. Law (ed.) Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge. London: Routledge.
18.
Livingston, E. (1986) The Ethnomethodological Basis of Mathematics. London: Routledge.
19.
McCloskey, D. (1985) The Rhetoric of Economics. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
20.
MacNaghten, P. (in press) `Discourses of Nature: A Study into the Power of Rhetoric', in E. Burman and I. Parker (eds) Discourse Analytic Research: Repertoires and Readings of Text in Action. London: Routledge.
21.
Marx, K. (1976) Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 1, trans. B. Fowkes. Harmondsworth: Penguin. (Originally published in 1867.)
22.
Moscovici, S. (1983) `The Phenomenon of Social Representations', in R.M. Farr and S. Moscovici (eds) Social Representations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23.
Parker, I. (1992) Discourse Dynamics: Critical Analysis for Individual and Social Psychology. London: Routledge.
24.
Petrocik, J.R. and Steeper, F.Y. (1986) `The Midterm Referendum: The Importance of Attributions of Responsibility', Political Behavior8: 206-229.
25.
Pinch, T. and Clark, C. (1986) `The Hard Sell: Patter-merchanting and the Strategic (Re)production and Local Management of Economic Reasoning in the Sales Routine of Market Pitchers', Sociology20: 169-191.
26.
Pomerantz, A. (1980) `Telling My Side: “Limited Access” as a “Fishing Device” ', Sociological Inquiry50: 186-196.
27.
Potter, J. and Wetherell, M. (1987) Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: Sage.
28.
Potter, J. , Wetherell, M. and Chitty, A. (1991) `Quantification Rhetoric-Cancer on Television', Discourse and Society2(3): 333-365.
29.
Ricoeur, P. (1977) Freud and Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation, trans. D. Savage. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press. (Originally published in 1965.)
30.
Smith, D. (1978) `K is Mentally Ill: The Anatomy of a Factual Account', Sociology, 12: 23-53.
31.
Thompson, J.B. (1984) Studies in the Theory of Ideology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
32.
Van Dijk, T.A. (1988) News Analysis: Case Studies of International News in the Press. Hove: Erlbaum.
33.
Verges, P. (1987) `A Social and Cognitive Approach to Economic Representations', in W. Doise and S. Moscovici (eds) Current Issues in European Psychology, Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34.
Wooffitt, R. (1992) Telling Tales of the Unexpected: The Organization of Factual Discourse. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
35.
Woolgar, S. and Pawluch, D. (1985) `Ontological Gerrymandering: The Anatomy of Social Problems Explanations', Social Problems32: 214-227.
36.
Zimmerman (1974) `Fact as a Practical Accomplishment', in R. Turner (ed.) Ethnomethodology. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
37.
Zullow, H.M. (1991) `Pessimistic Rumination in Popular Songs and Newsmagazines Predict Economic Recession via Decreased Consumer Optimism and Spending', Journal of Economic Psychology12: 501-526.
