Ideological Myths in Educational Leaders’ Public Defenses of Police Brutality on Campus

• In Event: Justice Outside the Classroom: Civic Participation, Protests, and Teaching

Abstract

In this paper, we offer a critical discourse analysis of ideological constructions deployed by presidents of three major Canadian research universities in their public justifications of police brutality on pro-Palestine protesters on university campuses. We argue that educational leaders (university presidents) construct and deploy ideological myths that position pro-Palestinian protestors on campus as threats to public safety and security, similar to how political leaders (country presidents) deploy ideological myths in their public justifications of wars.

Authors

• Valeriya Roshka, University of Calgary

• Pratim Sengupta, University of Calgary