national housing federation case study - discourse analysis

Chloe Hardy – Head of Campaigns

Understanding the Conservatives through their

language

Responsibility

Judgement

Opportunity

Social mobility

Civility

Neighbourhood pride

Social Progress

X Broken Society

X Welfare Dependence

Conservative Party Terms

X Calcifying

Conservative Party Terms: Social Housing

Dependency

Deprivation

Disadvantage

Inflexibility

Negative impact

Locked

XXXXXX

Choice

Aspirations

Right to move

Flexibility

Rewards

Exit Opportunity

Federation Discourse

• Reach potential

• Affordable homes

• Support independence

• Cohesive communities

• Marginalised / vulnerable people

• Compounding poverty

• Mixed communities

• Need / range of needs

• Regeneration

• Social exclusion

• ‘Specialist support’

• ‘Social investment’

• ‘A place for everyone’

• ‘Meeting local needs’

• ‘Tailored to individuals’

Dissonance

• Different terms, same apparent meaning• Same term, different meaning• Different terms, different values• Terms with difficult associations

Options

• Do nothing• Shift emphasis• Adopt concepts that resonate• Unpack ideas

Discourse analysis on a shoestring

• Speeches, manifesto, policy docs, think pieces• A few colleagues• Post-it notes

Discourse analysis on a shoestring

• Divide the material• Ask people to highlight words/phrases/ideas that

are repeated• Write onto post-its• Work to together to group post-its• Discuss as you go

Discourse analysis on a shoestring

• Are there words/concepts you share?• Are there concepts you share but describe

differently?• Are words you share but mean different things?• Are there concepts which they use and you

don’t?