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Manipulating national identity: The strategic use of rhetoric by supporters and opponents of the ‘Cronulla riots’ in Australia
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Manipulating national identity: The strategic use of rhetoric by supporters and opponents of the ‘Cronulla riots’ in Australia

A.M. Bliuc, C. McGarty, L.K. Hartley and D. Muntele Hendres
Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol.35(12), pp.2174-2194
2012
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Abstract

This research explores the role of opinion-based groups in understanding responses to racist violence such as the 2005 Cronulla riots in Australia. Traditionally, explanations of collective action in social psychology and sociology focus on conflict between broad social categories. We propose that the responses to the riots can be understood not only as inter-group conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims, or an in-group argument amongst non-Muslims, but as a bona fide inter-group conflict between supporters and opponents of the riots. We argue that these groups use rhetoric in attempts to claim dominant status within society by aligning their identities with positively valued social categories such as ethnicities and national identities. The analysis of rhetoric from the groups supporting and opposing the riots demonstrates consistent, albeit contested, attempts to align support for the riot with the Australian national category in conflict with countervailing attempts to align opposition to the riot with the same national category.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
6 Social Sciences
6.73 Social Psychology
6.73.447 Racial Identity
Web Of Science research areas
Ethnic Studies
Sociology
ESI research areas
Social Sciences, general
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