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Membership categorization analysis of racism in an online discussion among neighbors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Natasha Shrikant Open the ORCID record for Natasha Shrikant [Opens in a new window]
Natasha Shrikant*
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Natasha Shrikant Department of Communication University of Colorado, Boulder Hellems 96 UCB 270 Boulder, CO 80303-0270, USANatasha.shrikant@colorado.edu
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Abstract

This article addresses relationships between micro and macro aspects of language use through analyzing online interactions among neighbors discussing racism in their neighborhood. Membership categorization analysis supplemented with critical theory highlights how the ways neighbors name, characterize, and position categories orients to their rhetorical and identity goals (to construct reasonable stances, to seem not racist), which in turn motivates alignment with critical, folk, or colorblind ideologies of racism. Thus, ideologies do not determine interactional choices participants make, but rather are constituted by those choices. Findings also illustrate how discursive strategies such as reported speech, absurdity, three-part lists, and metadiscourse support ways that neighbors organize categories and achieve their aims. Additional contributions to this study include demonstrating the utility of membership categorization analysis for analyzing discourses of racism and providing practical insight into how racially diverse groups can have productive conversations about racism. (Racism, ideology, membership categorization analysis)*

Type
Article
Information
Language in Society , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 237 - 258
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

My greatest thanks to Karen Tracy for providing feedback on an earlier version of this work. This article was also extremely improved through the feedback provided by the Language in Society anonymous reviewers. Last, I would also like to thank the conference reviewers and attendees for their feedback at the 2017 Annual International Communication Association conference in San Diego, CA.

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