ABSTRACT
The incursion into the discursive practices of lifeworld domains is inseparable from the associated social practices. A government authority, university or church that talks and writes like a commercial enterprise eventually morphs into one; not necessarily in terms of legal structure, of course, but subtly yet noticeably in terms of its value base, the quality of the social relationships within it, and everyday notions of “how things are done around here”. There is no such thing as a purely linguistic surface, as lay theories on marketisation would have it. Discourse invariably affects substance. Marketised language does not just refl ect market practices, but also paves the way for them.
