ABSTRACT
In Chapter 8, we outlined two types of discourse analysis and how a discourse-analytical research project could proceed. To summarize, discourse analysis is useful for explaining how particular identities and policies are deemed commonsensical. It draws attention to how such normalization ignores and sidelines other ways of making sense. The analytical focus is therefore on studying what has been done, said, written, or made visible (“language use”) to note how particular meanings emerged and were normalized. This chapter will follow on from that but focus specifically on state and terrorist identity formations, analyzing discourses of counterterrorism. The first part of the chapter situates the role of the state in TS in general and discusses different ways the state and terrorist identities can be studied using discourse analysis. The second part outlines the method of genealogy and provides some examples. The final part discusses some further concerns for researchers interested in discourse analysis.
