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Article published In: Cognitive Linguistic Studies
Vol. 12:2 (2025) ► pp.227–263

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Conceptualization, society, and politics

The role(s) of concepts in the social world

 | University of Copenhagen
Published online: 10 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/cogls.00136.har
Abstract
Cognitive Linguistics has had an important mission in showing how conceptual formations — frames, idealized cognitive models, metaphorical mappings, etc. — play an essential role in our understanding of society, including political decisions. Most of that literature is focused on the way humans conceive and speak of society and politics, i.e., the conceptual aspect that was central to the mission of Cognitive Linguistics itself. This article goes beyond the linguistic and mental aspects, focusing on the role of conceptual models in social reality — in the way the world works. Causal relations are typically not in focus for cognitive or discourse-oriented studies — but they are essential in order to understand the role of conceptualization in the world: conceptualization works by feeding into the causal structure of the social world. A foundational point is the need for a multi-perspectival approach to social phenomena: The description of individual minds, the description of discourse processes, and the description of societies are not rivals competing for the same turf but necessary aspects of the same full story. Cognitive Linguistics shares concerns and issues with social constructionism, but differs in its emphasis on grounding, the importance of which is a key point in the discussion. More generally, an exclusive focus on mental phenomena may combine with idealist views of democracy and thereby create a risk of taking for granted a ‘let-there-be-light’ model of political change: To assume that once we agree on the idea, all that remains is to transform reality so as to conform to the ideal — which radically underestimates the difficulties both of getting there and making it work. The anthropological work of Arlie Russell Hochschild is used to illustrate how narratives, emotions, and hard social facts combine to create complex social reality.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Conceptualization and the way the social world works: Some basic features
  • 3.The ontology of the social world — and the place of societies within it
  • 4.Discourse: Conceptualizations in the flow of social life
  • 5.Human collectivity: From joint attention to institutionalized patterns
  • 6.The idealist model and politics in the real world
  • 7.The political framework, identity groups, and the question of rights
  • 8.The brute causality of the social world
  • 9.Postmodernity and the role of floating
  • 10.Combining causal, conceptual, and emotional understanding of society
  • 11.The concept of racism: An illustration
  • 12.Summary and conclusions
  • Note
  • Notes
  • References
References (72)
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