[Commlist] cfp: DN34: Discourse, Identity and Polarisation

Conference

Universiteto g. 5
01122 Vilnius, Lithuania

Date: 10/11/2026 - 12/11/2026
Registration deadline: 1/09/2026
Call for papers ending on: 15/05/2026

The DN34 International Conference on Discourse, Identity and Polarisation
will be held 10–12 November 2026 at Vilnius University and online. The call
for papers and panel proposals is open until 15 May 2026. This hybrid
conference provides an interdisciplinary space for examining how individual
and group identities are discursively constructed in today’s increasingly
polarised societies, and how discourse both reflects and shapes emerging
social divisions. Although identity construction has long been central to
discourse analysis, this conference places the interrelation between
identity, subjectivity and polarisation at the forefront. In a context of
political, cultural and epistemic fragmentation, identity is not only
performed but also continually renegotiated through discourse. We therefore
invite contributions that explore how discursive practices contribute to the
reproduction, negotiation or mitigation of social divides, and how 
identities
emerge through processes of positioning, contestation and boundary-making.

Across global public spheres, ongoing debates around issues such as
migration, climate change, social security, AI governance and geopolitical
tensions have become sharply polarised. These debates not only construct
conflict but also actively participate in defining hegemonic and
counter-hegemonic projects. Following Mouffe (1999, 2005, 2013), antagonism
can be understood as a discursively constructed relation that shapes
subjectivities and organises the social through competing visions of the
common good. From a Foucauldian (1966/2005) perspective, these struggles are
embedded within broader epistemes of historically specific formations of
knowledge that delimit what can be said, thought and legitimised.
Polarisation is therefore not merely an empirical phenomenon but part of a
power/knowledge configuration that governs how social problems are framed,
which subjects are authorised to speak, and which interpretations gain
dominance. DN34 thus aims to problematise the very notion of polarisation,
asking how it is defined, invoked and contested across disciplines, and what
consequences these discourses have for identity, hegemony and social
cohesion. The rise of right-wing populisms has intensified these dynamics,
recontextualising polarisation as a form of antagonism and further deepening
social divisions (Krzyżanowski, 2020; Mudde, 2022; Porto & Romano, 2025).

Building on this understanding of polarisation as a discursive process,
research on discourse, identity and subjectivity further highlights how
linguistic choices shape the ways individuals position themselves and others
within specific socio-cultural contexts (Bös et al., 2018; Huang &
Holmgreen, 2020; Morales-López & Floyd, 2017). These contexts, in turn,
influence the social production of meaning (Angermuller, 2014) and
interpretation of discourse (Frank, 2008), making discourse and context
mutually constitutive. This dynamic interaction reveals how agency,
legitimacy, power and polarisation materialise in communicative practices
(Bamberg et al., 2011; Bucholtz & Hall, 2010). Polarisation, often realised
as the discursive opposition between “Us” and “Them” (Van Leeuwen,
2008; Koller, 2012), thus provides a productive lens for examining how 
social
groups construct themselves and others (Van Dijk, 1998; Wodak, 2011, 2021)
and connects directly back to the antagonistic configurations described
above.

In this context, the conference invites scholars at all career stages from
across the transdisciplinary field of Critical Discourse Studies to explore
how social divisions, subjectivities and identities are discursively shaped,
contested and transformed. Contributions may engage with, but are not 
limited
to, the following themes:

Discourse and identity in times of polarisation: How are individual and 
group
identities discursively constructed in contexts of social division or
conflict?Identity, polarisation and socio-cultural situatedness: How do
specific socio-cultural settings shape the discursive construction of
identity and polarisation?Discursive strategies of identity and 
polarisation:
Which linguistic or multimodal strategies enhance, negotiate or challenge
polarisation?Affect, identity and polarisation: What emotional registers are
salient in discourses of identity and polarisation? How do affect and 
emotion
shape subjectivities and social divisions?Topical constructions of identity:
Which issues or policy areas become focal points for the discursive
construction of identities and divisions?Genres, media and polarisation: How
do different discourse genres shape identity and polarisation?Nationalism,
populism and identity politics: How do populist and identity-based 
discourses
contribute to polarisation, hegemony and counter-hegemony?Discourse, 
identity
and intersectionality: How do dimensions such as gender, race, ethnicity,
nationality, sexuality and ideology interact in the discursive construction
of identity in polarised worlds?Digital identities and online communities:
How are identities constructed in digital spaces, and what role do online
communities play in spreading or contesting polarisation?Historical and
diachronic perspectives: What can historical developments teach us about the
evolving relationships between discourse, identity and
polarisation?Theoretical and methodological challenges: Which theoretical
frameworks and methods are most suitable for analysing discourse, identity
and polarisation?
This conference aligns with the EU-funded DARE project, which supports the
event and investigates how polarisation and identities surrounding the
abortion debate are constructed in European mainstream news media.



Submission guidelines
Abstracts should be 250 – 400 words (including references) and anonymous.
Please specify the tentative presentation mode (online or offline). It would
be possible to switch once the choice has been made

Use APA 7th edition style for references and include five keywords The
language of the conference is English  Full panel proposals: Panels with
three to five presentations with a panel chair are welcome. Please include
the abstract of the panel and paper abstracts Presentations should be 20
minutes long and will be followed by a 10-minute discussion Submit your
abstracts via the conference submission platform:
https://www.dare.flf.vu.lt/registration [1]
Important dates

Abstract submission deadline: May 15, 2026 Notification of acceptance:June
30, 2026 Registration deadline: September 1, 2026 Conference dates:
November 10–12, 2026
Fees & registration
Participants are required to hold an active DiscourseNet membership (€60
for 2 years). No registration fee apart from DN membership is required. You
can obtain a valid DN membership via this link [2]. More information can be
found here [3].

The cost of coffee breaks and opening reception will be covered by the
organisation.

Venue
The conference will be a hybrid event, held in person at Vilnius University
(Universiteto g. 5, 01122 Vilnius, Lithuania) and online through MS
Teams.

Committees and organisation
The conference is hosted by Vilnius University, Lithuania, in collaboration
with DiscourseNet – International Association for Discourse Studies and the
DARE [4] Horizon Europe project, funded by the European Commission.

Local Organising Committee (VU):  chair: Silvia Peterssen, co-chair:
Liudmila Arcimavičienė Organising team: Jurga Cibulskienė, Lina
Inčiuraitė-Noreikienė, Lina Marčiulionytė, Virginija Masiulionytė,
Irena Snukiškienė International Organising Committee: Thomas Jacobs and
Benno Herzog Scientific Committee: Isabel Alonso (Autonomous University of
Madrid), Ieva Bisigirskaitė (VU), Aurora Fragonara (University of
Picardy-Jules Verne), Michael Kranert (University of Southampton), Jens
Maesse (University of Giessen), Magdalena Nowicka-Franczak (University of
Lodz), Leandro Paolicchi (Mar del Plata University), Dolores Porto
(University of Alcalá), Manuela Romano (Autonomous University of Madrid),
Anna Ruskan (VU), Inesa Šeškauskienė (VU), Jolanta Šinkūnienė (VU),
Audronė Šolienė (VU), Orlagh Woods (VU)
Keynotes
The following keynote speakers are confirmed:

Ruth Breeze (University of Navarra)
Veronika Koller (Lancaster University)
Augusto Soares da Silva (Catholic University of Portugal)
Jan Zienkowski (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Publication opportunities
Selected contributions may be considered for publication in an edited 
volume,
to be tentatively published in the DiscourseNet Work-in-Progress Series, the
Palgrave Book Series.

Contact
For questions, please contact the organising team at: (www.dare /at/ flf.vu.lt)
[5]

///

[1] https://www.dare.flf.vu.lt/registration
[2] https://donorbox.org/discoursenet-membership?default_interval=a
[3] https://discourseanalysis.net/DN
[4] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101244447
[5] https://(www.dare /at/ flf.vu.lt)/
[6] https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_8
[7] http://benjamins.com/catalog/dapsac


References 
Angermuller, J. (2014). Poststructuralist discourse analysis: subjectivity
in enunciative pragmatics. Springer.
Bamberg, M., De Fina, A., & Schiffrin, D. (2011). Discourse and Identity
Construction. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. L. Vignoles (Eds.), 
Handbook
of Identity Theory and Research (pp. 177–199). Springer Science+Business
Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_8
Bös, B., Kleinke, S., Mollin, S., & Hernández, N. (Eds.). (2018). The
Discursive Construction of Identities On-and Offline: Personal - group -
collective. John Benjamins. http://benjamins.com/catalog/dapsac
Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2010). Locating Identity in Language. In C. Llamas
& D. Watt (Eds.), Language and Identities (pp. 18–28). Edinburgh University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748635788-006
De Fina, A., Schiffrin, D., & Bamberg, M. (2006). Introduction. In A. De
Fina, D. Schiffrin, & M. Bamberg (Eds.), Discourse and Identity (pp. 1–24).
Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584459.001
Filardo-Llamas, L., Morales-López, E., & Floyd, A. (Eds.). (2021).
Discursive Approaches to Socio-political Polarization and Conflict
(preprint). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003094005 [10]
Foucault, M. (1966/2005). The order of things. Routledge.
Frank, R. M. (2008). Introduction: Sociocultural situatedness. In R. M.
Frank, R. Dirven, T. Ziemke, & E. Bernárdez (Eds.), Body, Language,and
Mind: Sociocultural Situatedness (pp. 1–18). De Gruyter Mouton.
Koller, V. (2012). How to Analyse Collective Identity in Discourse–
Textual and Contextual Parameters. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis
Across Disciplines, 5(2), 19–38.
Krzyżanowski, M. (2020). Normalization and the discursive construction of
“new” norms and “new” normality: discourse in the paradoxes of
populism and neoliberalism. Social Semiotics, 30(4), 431–448.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2020.1766193
Morales-López, E., & Floyd, A. (2017). Developing New Identities in Social
Conflicts: Constructivist Perspectives. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/viluniv-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4983485
Mouffe, C. (1999). Deliberative democracy or agonistic pluralism? Social
Research 66(3): 745–758.
Mouffe, C. (2005). On the Political. London: Routledge.
Mouffe, C. (2013). Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. London; New
York: Verso.
Mudde, C. (2022). The far-right threat to liberal democracy in Europe,
explained. Vox.
https://www.vox.com/world/23516807/europe-right-wing-parties-orban-meloni
Porto, M. D., & Romano, M. (2025). Polarisation: the new superword. Meanings
and current uses in English and Spanish. Journal of Corpora and Discourse
Studies (8).
Roskamm, N. (2015). On the other side of “agonism”:“The enemy,” the
“outside,” and the role of antagonism. Planning Theory, 14(4), 384-403.
Van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. SAGE.
https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446217856
Van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical
Discourse Analysis. Oxford University Press.
Wodak, R. (2011). “Us” and “Them”: Inclusion and Exclusion –
Discrimination via Discourse. In G. Delanty, R. Wodak, & P. Jones (Eds.),
Identity, Belonging and Migration (pp. 54–77). Liverpool UniversityPress.
https://doi.org/10.5949/UPO9781846314537.004
Wodak, R. (2021). The Politics of Fear: The Shameless Normalization of
Far-Right Discourse (2nd ed.). SAGE.




---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely. The commlist has no responsibility for any damage caused by its postings. Subscription to the list automatically implies agreement with this rule.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------