Skip to main content

Dissertation: Thinking peace and conflict through a poststructuralist theorising and analysis of discourse and identity

Tampere University
LocationKalevantie 5, Tampere
Linna Building, K103
6.8.2019 9.00–13.00
Entrance feeFree of charge
In his dissertation Angel Iglesias Ortiz opens different theoretical and analytical angles in the field of Peace and Conflict Research to comprehend the political dimension behind the discursive and visual references that construct discourses and identities.

The dissertation presents a conceptual framework based on poststructuralism that provides particular ways to see different configurations of discourses and identities and their internal structure. The framework takes specific ontological-theoretical-analytical references to address these configurations. 

Conceptually, the starting point is anti-essentialist understanding of the elements and structures within the social. This ontological perspective is based on a post-foundational understanding of the social. This understanding considers the multiple and contingent foundations constituting the social and the political dimension behind this. On the other hand, the theoretical and analytical references are mainly developed with Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe work, known as discourse theory. Specifically, discourse theory’s concepts of hegemony, antagonism and heterogeneity are contextualised to follow different configurations and articulation of discourses and identities.

Each concept is mirrored with a case in which different configurations of discourses and identities are explored. Analytically, the concept of hegemony involves a case that exemplifies the conjunction of a dispersion of elements into an all-encompassing discourse and collective identity. The concept of antagonism works as a reference of a divided social field where two opposite elements try to achieve a dominant position in a given discourse. This second case illustrates the composition of discourse and identity though binary oppositions and to consider the constitutive aspect of negativity. Finally, the concept of heterogeneity is contextualised to follow the discursive articulation of different social demands from a disregarded position.  

The contribution of Angel Iglesias Ortiz’s dissertation to the field of Peace and Conflict Research is to consider a poststructural perspective that gives an account of contrasting configurations of discourses and identities. The analysis shows the complex intertextual relations of symbolic and discursive references, the logics that ground the articulation of discourse and the political dimension that affects concepts such as world peace.

The doctoral dissertation of M. Soc. Sci Angel Iglesias Ortiz in the field of Peace and Conflict Research titled Exploring Social Objectivity through Hegemony, Antagonism and Heterogeneity. Outlining a Conceptual Approximation will be publicly examined in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Tampere University at 12 o’clock on 6th August 2019 in Linna Building K103 (Kalevantie 5, Tampere). The Opponent will be Dr. D.U. Professor David Shim from University of Groningen.  The Custos will be Professor Emeritus Tuomo Melasuo from Tampere University’s Faculty of Social Sciences.

The dissertation is available online at https://trepo.tuni.fi//handle/10024/115700