"Make America Patriotic Again": Constructing and Contesting Patriotism in Political Discourse

• In Event: 2229 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable #7

Abstract

This paper engages with the literature on patriotism as an individualized, normative expression of affinity for a nation and a counterbalance to an ethnically based nationalism. I ask whether, and in what ways, patriotism is deployed in opposition to nationalism in American political discourse. Taking as my object of analysis the full range of speeches delivered at the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and Republican National Convention (RNC), I conduct a critical political discourse analysis, examining references to patriotism, the political context of each speech, and responses from audiences. I argue that patriotism is articulated discursively in relation to nationalism, such that it functions simultaneously as a synonym for nationalism and a rebuttal to it. This process creates and re-creates the discursive categories of in-group and out-group while maintaining this binary at large.

Author

• Meghan Tinsley, University of Manchester