ABSTRACT
My concern in this chapter is with how the world is represented from one position in the political ‘field’ – that of New Labour. This includes representations of the world as it has been in the past and is now, as well as of the world as it might be and should be – a vision of the world, partly actual, partly potential. It includes representations of the economy, of work, of crime, of the family, and so forth. It also includes representations of politics and government as ways of changing the world – specifically of what is claimed to be a ‘new politics’, the politics of the ‘Third Way’. Different positions in the political field give rise to different representations, different visions – New Labour’s vision of the world is different from that of its political opponents. Looked at from a language perspective, different representations/visions of the world are different ‘discourses’.
