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Discourses of community and conflict: The organization of social categories in accounts of a ‘riot’
Author(s) -
Potter Jonathan,
Reicher Stephen
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1987.tb00758.x
Subject(s) - repertoire , harmony (color) , psychology , social psychology , social harmony , social conflict , social organization , sociology , social science , political science , art , physics , politics , acoustics , law , visual arts
This paper illustrates a novel approach to social psychological phenomena, namely the systematic analysis of participants' discourse. Specifically it examines the production of social categories and their organization in discourse through a detailed analysis of the use of the category ‘community’ and the notion of ‘community relations’ in accounts of the ‘St Paul's riot’ of 1980. In the first stage of analysis, the linguistic repertoire making up the category community is outlined, concentrating on variations in accounts of ( a ) the existence of community over time, ( b ) its racial composition, ( c ) the role of metaphors such as harmony and growth. The second stage of analysis shows the way this repertoire is deployed in the achievement of highly contrasting versions of events, concentrating on depictions of the role of the police and the way appropriate responses are specified.