BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:“The Construction of Group Identity in the Facebook Discourse o f a Mexican Autodefensa.” \; Guest Speaker: Sylvia Sierra\, \;Assi stant Professor\, Department of \;Communications and Rhetorical Studie s\, Syracuse University. \;\n\nCritical Discourse Analysis (CDA) studi es have primarily been restricted to analyzing mainstream political discou rse and often right-wing or even fascist discourse. Meanwhile\, Mautner (2 005) notes that CDA has been reluctant to engage with computer-mediated co mmunication (CMC) (Herring\, 1996)\, while CMC scholars have not necessari ly engaged with the socio-political contexts of data (Unger 2012). \; CDA studies have only just begun to examine how social media networks can be an instrumental part of the discourse of resistance in political moveme nts around the world (e.g.\, Chiluwa 2012). In this study\, I combine a CD A framework with computer-mediated discourse analysis to investigate the e mergent group identity of the Mexican autodefensa (self-defense) movement (2013 to present)\, a grassroots social and political movement formed by o rdinary Mexican citizens to fight against drug cartel control. I analyze t he discourse of one autodefensa’s Facebook page (autodefensa Sahuayo\, Mic hoacán)\, showing how their group identity emerges online in opposition to the cartels via their performative construction of binarity\, or positive self- and negative other-presentation\, which relies on their increasingl y explicit intensified nomination and predication of themselves and the ca rtels against which they are fighting as well as their topoi\, or simplifi ed arguments\, regarding religion\, family\, and struggle which function t o legitimize their actions offline. This CDA study shows how a Mexican aut odefensa engages in discursive construction of group identity in a social media context. \;Conversations in Conflict Studies is a weekly educati onal speaker series for students\, faculty\, and the community. The series \, sponsored by PARCC\, draws its speakers from Syracuse University facult y\, national and international scholars and activists\, and PhD students. Pizza is served. Follow us on Twitter @PARCCatMaxwell\, tweet #ConvoInConf lict.If you require accommodations\, please contact Deborah Toole by email at datoole@syr.edu or by phone at 315.443.2367. \; DTEND:20180418T174500Z DTSTAMP:20260513T061015Z DTSTART:20180418T164500Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Conversations in Conflict Studies with Sylvia Sierra UID:RFCALITEM639142350154800757 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

“The Construction of Group Identity in the Facebook Discourse of a Mexican Autodefensa.” \; Gues t Speaker: Sylvia Sierra\, \;Assistant Professor\, Department of \;Communications and Rhetorical Studies\, Syracuse University.&nbs p\;

\n\nCritical Discourse Analysis (CDA) studies have primarily bee n restricted to analyzing mainstream political discourse and often right-w ing or even fascist discourse. Meanwhile\, Mautner (2005) notes that CDA h as been reluctant to engage with computer-mediated communication (CMC) (He rring\, 1996)\, while CMC scholars have not necessarily engaged with the s ocio-political contexts of data (Unger 2012). \; CDA studies have only just begun to examine how social media networks can be an instrumental pa rt of the discourse of resistance in political movements around the world (e.g.\, Chiluwa 2012). In this study\, I combine a CDA framework with comp uter-mediated discourse analysis to investigate the emergent group identit y of the Mexican autodefensa (self-defense) movement (2013 to present)\, a grassroots social and political movement formed by ordinary Mexican citiz ens to fight against drug cartel control. I analyze the discourse of one a utodefensa’s Facebook page (autodefensa Sahuayo\, Michoacán)\, showing how their group identity emerges online in opposition to the cartels via thei r performative construction of binarity\, or positive self- and negative o ther-presentation\, which relies on their increasingly explicit intensifie d nomination and predication of themselves and the cartels against which t hey are fighting as well as their topoi\, or simplified arguments\, regard ing religion\, family\, and struggle which function to legitimize their ac tions offline. This CDA study shows how a Mexican autodefensa engages in d iscursive construction of group identity in a social media context. \;

Conversations in Conflict Studies is a weekly educational speaker series for students\, faculty\, and the community. The series\, sponsored by PARCC\, draws its speakers from Syracuse University faculty\, national and international scholars and activists\, and PhD students. Pizza is serv ed. Follow us on Twitter @PARCCatMaxwell\, tweet #ConvoInConflict.

If you require accommodations\, please contact Deborah Toole by email at datoole@syr.edu or by phone at 315.443.2367. \;

END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR