TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2009//
TI  - The language of change? Characterizations of in-group social position, threat, and the deployment of distinctive group attributes
JO  - British journal of social psychology
A1  - Livingstone, Andrew G.
A1  - Spears, Russell
A1  - Manstead, Antony S. R.
SP  - 295
EP  - 311
VL  - 48
IS  - Pt 2
N2  - A considerable body of research has shown that group members establish and emphasize characteristics or attributes that define their in-group in relation to comparison out-groups. We extend this research by exploring the range of ways in which members of the same social category (Welsh people) deploy a particular attribute (the Welsh language) as a flexible identity management resource. Through a thematic analysis of data from interviews and two public speeches, we examine how the deployment of the Welsh language is bound up with characterizations of the in-group's wider intergroup position (in terms of power relations and their legitimacy and stability), and one's position within the in-group. We focus in particular on the rhetorical and strategic value of such characterizations for policing in-group boundaries on the one hand, and for the in-group's intergroup position on the other. We conclude by emphasizing the need to (1) locate analyses of the uses and importance of group-defining attributes within the social setting that gives them meaning and (2) to appreciate such characterizations as attempts to influence, rather than simply reflect that setting.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0144-6665
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/014466608X329533
ID  - ref1
ER  -