Abstract
When we talk about politics, we generate identities that can be recognised through discourse—this recognition occurs through stances that interactants take in relation to one another. This chapter presents the case of a discussion with Ashley, who develops a ‘greenie’ political identity alongside that of her conversational partner and in response to the interactional demands of the moment, all the while operating under higher-order discursive influences. This chapter examines the process in action, from the point of first contact through to explicit confirmation of Ashley’s political leaning. It shows that it is only in relation to others that our political selves can be fully understood.
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- 1.
In 2015, Norman announced his resignation, which took effect at the 2017 election.
- 2.
After the 2010 review of the Canterbury Regional Council (known as Environment Canterbury or ECan), the Government replaced the democratically elected council members with commissioners to address issues of poor performance. In 2012 this was extended to 2016 in the context of the rebuild after the devastating 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes. In 2015, the government announced that ‘mixed-model governance’ would be in place from 2016 to 2019, to function as a transitionary structure on the way back to a fully elected council (Department of Internal Affairs n.d.).
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Woodhams, J.M. (2019). ‘I’m a Greenie’: Stances of Political Self and Other. In: Political Identity in Discourse. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18630-2_5
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