Get fulltext from our e-platform
Discourse and Identity Formation
Parliamentary debates in Bahrain
Editors
The book explores eleven debates held at the Bahraini Council of Representatives (or the Parliament) over 2007-2010 to comprehend how parliamentary discourse contributes towards identity formation within Bahraini society. Within the framework of critical discourse studies, the book traces the ideological struggle over power in the linguistic content of legislative discourse through a range of discursive strategies and devices.
The authors contend that the discursive choices across the political spectrum in the legislative debates reflected strong sectarian characteristics which contained in it the seeds of political unrest of 2011, the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ of Bahrain. Parliamentary rhetoric and its resonance in the public sphere, the authors argue, revealed the underlying contradictions in Bahraini society. The book highlights the significance of legislative discourse as a platform of social cohesion, and its instability being symptomatic of contradictions within society.
The authors contend that the discursive choices across the political spectrum in the legislative debates reflected strong sectarian characteristics which contained in it the seeds of political unrest of 2011, the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ of Bahrain. Parliamentary rhetoric and its resonance in the public sphere, the authors argue, revealed the underlying contradictions in Bahraini society. The book highlights the significance of legislative discourse as a platform of social cohesion, and its instability being symptomatic of contradictions within society.
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 73] 2017. xxii, 285 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 20 November 2017
Published online on 20 November 2017
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements | pp. xiii–xiv
- Acknowledgements | pp. xv–xvi
- List of tables | pp. xvii–xviii
- List of figures | pp. xix–xx
- Transliteration system | pp. xxi–xxii
- Chapter 1. Introduction | pp. 1–12
- Chapter 2. Religion, ideology and politics in Islamic society | pp. 13–22
- Chapter 3. Language variation across Bahrain | pp. 23–38
- Chapter 4. Theoretical underpinnings | pp. 39–68
- Chapter 5. Ideology, identity and discourse: Evidence from parliamentary debates during 2008–2010 | pp. 69–176
- Chapter 6. Discursive approaches and political ideology in Bahrain | pp. 177–198
- Chapter 7. Bahrain’s ongoing quest for deliberative democracy | pp. 199–210
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Collecting and presenting data
- Appendix A. Collecting and presenting data | pp. 221–226
- Appendix B. Agenda topics matched to items in Hansard | pp. 227–228
- Appendix C. The excerpts | pp. 229–268
- Appendix D. Offences Affecting External State Security | pp. 269–270
- Glossary | pp. 271–274
- Index | pp. 275–285
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Canale, Germán & Viviane Resende
Alkooheji, Lamya & Khalil E. Mohamed
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.