ABSTRACT
This chapter explains language and power in institutional contexts. It is concerned with the ways in which language is used to create and shape institutions and how institutions in turn have the capacity to create, shape and impose discourses. Institutions have been the object of many investigations in the fields of sociology, media, and cultural and organizational studies. Linguistic and discourse analytical approaches to institutional research generally regard linguistic exchange as an important aspect of interaction where language is understood as constitutive of organizations and institutions. On the contrary, people can and do resist and subvert dominant institutional discourses and practices by drawing on oppositional knowledge or tailoring dominant understandings to their personal circumstances. Institutional settings include the courtroom, business meetings, service encounters, doctor–patient consultations or classroom interaction, and in such settings, there is at least one participant who may restrict the contributions of the other participant.
