Objects of Legitimation: Constructing Robust Discourse in the International Response to the Syrian Civil War

• In Event: 444 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Terrorism and Legitimacy in Political Sociology

Abstract

International politics requires states’ representatives to maintain positive relationships while advancing particular interests that are often at odds with the interests or agendas of other states. Officials use public discourse to create mutual obligations in an effort to balance these competing imperatives. I examine what makes some discourses more effective than others through an analysis of how states employed discourses of legitimacy in negotiating international responses to the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011. Comparing competing uses of the same construct and tracing the evolution of uses in relation to the dynamics and trajectory of the conflict, I find that the relative efficacy of these discourses is structured by the object of legitimation itself. Specifically, multivocal objects facilitate actors’ ability to continually reshape the framing of events to align with their interests, whereas univocal object better foster agreement among diverse actors, but situationally constrains the efficacy of those discourses.

Author

• Eric Schoon, The Ohio State University