Terrorism to me its a sneaky way its

Terrorism to me. . . it’s a sneaky way. . . it’s not like war. A discourse-dynamic metaphor analysis of concepts of group identity and empathy in a discussion about terrorism. Lynne Cameron and Robert Maslen The Open University

Developing methods across funded research projects Project 1: Perception and Communication of the Risk of Terrorism (ESRC) ¢ Project 2: Living with Uncertainty (ESRC/AHRC) ¢

Outline Project 1 data and methods ¢ Using project 1 as a starting point for project 2 ¢ Project 2 methods ¢ Findings ¢ Further work ¢

Project 1 ¢ ¢ ¢ 24 month project with researchers from several disciplines, blended methods and several stages. Funded by UK Economic and Social Research Council “New Security Challenges Programme” How do people conceptualise, interpret and assess background terrorist risk? Research Question: l How do people conceptualise, interpret and assess background terrorist risk? • Is there variation between groups, differentiated by socio-economic status, gender, place of residence, religious affiliation? What do they have in common?

Project 1 data ¢ 12 focus groups with members of the public AB Men AB Women C 1/C 2 Men C 1/C 2 Women Muslim Men Muslim Women Total Leeds 8 8 8 48 London 8 8 8 48 Total participants: 96 Socio-economic status: AB = professional, skilled jobs C 1/C 2 = manual, semi- or unskilled jobs

Metaphor Analysis ¢ ¢ Transcription of audio recording to intonation units (Chafe, 1994; du Bois et al, 1993). Identification of linguistic metaphor vehicles (Cameron, 2003) l l ¢ ¢ . . if they were living in some sort of stability, I would say it’s a flaw in the system 12, 905 linguistic metaphors. Finding systematicity: constructing groups of connected metaphors

Identifying systematic metaphors BALANCE IS THE NORM FOR SOCIETY TERRORISM DISTURBS THE BALANCE . . if they were living in some sort of stability, (Leeds CD Men) because normal Muslims aren't like this (Leeds CD Women) the world is out of balance (London AB Women) it settles down (London Muslim Women) they try to disrupt the government (London Muslim Women) upsets the fragile peace (Leeds Muslim Men)

Identifying systematic metaphors THE RISK OF TERRORISM IS A GAME OF CHANCE PEOPLE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER OUTCOMES we get caught up in a poker game (London AB Men) they will play the bluff (London AB Men) the odds are very high (Leeds Muslim Women) if your number’s up (London AB Men) pawns in a game (Leeds CD Men)

Metaphor analysis: methodological challenges Working with large amounts of data ¢ Trustworthiness ¢ Training l Reliability checking l Tension between interpretation and rigour l ¢ The nature of metaphor l boundaries

THE RISK OF TERRORISM IS A GAME OF CHANCE PEOPLE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER OUTCOMES Men make more use than Women of gaming metaphors to talk about the risks of terrorism. *** Muslim Men make much less use than non. Muslim Men. *** Muslim Women make little or no use of these. **

BALANCE IS THE NORM FOR INDIVIDUAL / SOCIETY Women make more use of BALANCE metaphors, speaking of norms for individuals and social groups as a balance, norm or equilibrium. ***

Project 2 Living with Uncertainty: Metaphor and the dynamics of empathy in discourse Opening up possibilities for alternative responses to uncertainty ¢ Research Fellowship with linked project activities ¢ Phase 1: Perceptions of other people in times of threat: Empathy and metaphor in focus group discussions ¢

Research Question ¢ How do focus groups use metaphor and other language strategies to construct, negotiate and resist empathy in respect of other social groups?

Empathy Emotional empathy ¢ Perspective taking ¢ Moral/ethical positioning ¢

Project 2 data Project 1 focus group data ¢ Already coded analysed for metaphor ¢

Terry if they were that brave, . . surely they'd say <Q right, . . this is our team, . . that's your team, … crack on Q> [] xx XX Terry but they don't, . . because they hide in the woodwork. xx mm. Finn well who's to -who's <X to draw up X> the teams? . . who's to say, which is the -which is on -who's on which team?

Building on the metaphor analysis ¢ Adding deictic metaphors (here/there, this/that) it’s not that these groups were not there, they were there all the time, they were there in -in England also.

Building on the metaphor analysis ¢ SOCIAL LANDSCAPE metaphors Across previous vehicle groupings l Landscape related l Topics: social life, social groups l terrorism to me it’s a sneaky way (the government is) moving away from the situation,

SOCIAL LANDSCAPE ¢ SOCIO-CULTURAL DIFFERENCE IS PHYSICAL SEPARATION l …divide the society, l I mean it'll divide -- l invisible walls now]], . . being. . built.

SOCIAL LANDSCAPE MODEL

Other language strategies related to empathy across social groups Explicit expression of empathy ¢ Perspective taking ¢ Narratives ¢ Scenarios ¢ Labelling ¢ Reference shifting ¢

SCENARIO my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

CODA my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

LABELLING my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

METAPHORS my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

METAPHORS-SOCIAL LANDSCAPE my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. s-l that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared. s-l

PERSPECTIVE TAKING my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

EMPATHY my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared.

my children suddenly have realised, that, . . not only they are British, . . they are British Muslims. . . that is. . what has happened. s-l that suddenly they have realised, <Q oh I am a Muslim Q>. . . until now, they were living, … (2. 0) as if they were any other British youngster. . . but now they particularly feel it. . . so that, . . age of innocence, has suddenly. . disappeared. s-l

Closing remarks Methods promising route to answering research question ¢ Further work ¢ Apply to remaining 11 groups l Compare findings l Connect empirical findings to theoretical model of empathy l

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