The Critical Discourse Analysis of the Political Movement of the Student and the People (2020)

Abstract

This research aims to examine the relationship between linguistic dimensions and social dimensions in order to explore political discourse in counter hegemony from the political movement phenomena of the student and the people in 2020. This study used the qualitative research methodology through the framework of Norman Fairclough’s  Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) which encompasses 3 dimensions: 1) text, 2) discursive practice, and 3) socio-cultural practice. The data for the analysis is the texts of 10 protesters' leaders, collected from speeches, interviews with the media, television appearances, participation in academic seminars, and participation in clarifications at meetings of the House of Representatives. Additionally, the secondary data include the texts from groups holding state power and groups opposing protest movements, derived from interviews with the media and various official statements, for analysis.

            The results of the study found that following the 2014 coup,  reconfiguration of power occurred, impacting political, economic, and social dimensions, particularly exacerbating economic inequalities and social injustices, which led to the emergence of the 2020 political movement. Furthermore, ten alternatives discourses were discovered, existing as embodiments of thought through language and used as crucial tools in the struggle. These discourses reveal embedded political ideologies within the texts from both the protesters, namely ‘liberal democracy’, and the groups holding state power and those opposing protest movements, namely, ‘monarchist conservatism’ and ‘authoritarian conservatism’.