Human Rights Law

Ideology and the Language of Human Rights: Language, Text, and Ideology in Amnesty International Appeal Letters

By Gerald Delahunty
New Arrival Cambridge University Press July 2026

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781009635615
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication
July 2026
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

It is crucial to apply robust analytic methods to the study of discourses deemed 'ideological'. This book applies the Guidelines and Procedures for ideological research, as presented in Verschueren's Ideology in Language Use, to an exciting new area of study; discourses intended to improve humanity. It analyses the discourse of Amnesty International appeal letters, to show (contrary to what the field of critical discourse analysis often assumes) that ideological discourse can sometimes have a positive, rather than a negative, agenda. It explores how Amnesty's choice of words, sentence structures, speech acts, and other discourse elements, enact its ideological meanings, functions, frames of reference and interpretation, as well as the social, interactional, and ideological positioning of discourse participants in its reports, communications, and appeals. These findings have wider implications not only for the field of discourse analysis, but also for theories within pragmatics, such as speech act theory and (im)politeness.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Rights, human rights, and amnesty international
3. Ideology
4. Pragmatic guidelines and procedures: data, context, and lines of vision
5. Language, social structures, processes, relations, and meaning
6. Implicit meanings
7. Conclusions
References
Index
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