DiscourseNet statement on the invasion of Ukraine

In the light of the ongoing aggression of the Russian government against the Ukrainian people, DiscourseNet, the international association of discourse researchers, expresses its deep solidarity with all the people who suffer (directly and indirectly) from the military conflict — especially our friends and colleagues from Ukraine directly affected by it. We are fully aware of the fact that the current situation will dramatically worsen the life and work conditions of our Russian colleagues, too.

Facilitating the scientific exchange of different communities, beyond language boundaries, discriminatory categories and social hierarchies as well as using our research to foster democratic decision making, civic rights, various forms of informed activism, academic freedom, and peace are constituent parts of our network’s mission.

We observe the war of aggression by the Russian government in the Ukraine with great concern. As DiscourseNet, we aim at supporting researchers endangered by violence, within our network and within the many institutions we work in across the globe. As a network of researchers, we explicitly welcome those colleagues who need support against persecution, devastation, discrimination, repression and war.

DiscourseNet encourages critical research to monitor the invasion and its effects on Ukraine, Russia and all the countries involved. In this mission, we expressly want to strengthen our relationship with Ukrainian as well as Russian scholars.

In the next few weeks, DiscourseNet will promote further discussions and host events about what discourse researchers can do in order to provide non-violent and democratic spaces for conflict prevention and resolution. We will discuss especially the power of words in armed conflicts as well as the power of discourses for peaceful dialogue. We are interested in shedding light on the power of metaphors and framing, in the role of journalists and social media, in the material conditions for anti-militaristic discourse production and in the impact of discourses (and discourse studies) for peace.

We invite researchers from all around the world to get in touch with us and to debate this pressing question in order to prevent further militarization and war.

On our website www.discourseanalysis.net we will soon publish more information about the planned events.