How does state rhetoric change as conflict intensifies against intrastate enemies? We forward the concept of narrative expansion and labeling, to analyze the escalatory transformation of conflict discourse by the Philippine state media. The data set includes 4,098 articles from the state’s official news agency, covering early attempts at reconciliation and the eventual failure of peace negotiations between the Philippine Government and the National Democratic Front (NDF). Analysis involves a mixed methods approach, combining computational network analytics of word networks with a qualitative interpretation of emergent themes. Results reveal a discursive shift emanating from the state’s mouthpiece, alongside the political deterioration of peace talks with the NDF. The state narrative initially expands to include not only conciliatory but also confrontational talk. Eventually combative talks dominate, including a shift in labeling the enemy as terrorist rather than rebel. Narrative expansion likewise refers to state news discursively increasing the number of social actors involved in the conflict as either enemy or ally. Our findings contribute to understanding how discursive shifts may move from conciliatory to hostile discourse in a protracted intrastate conflict.
The Marawi siege of 2017 destroyed both the St. Mary's (Catholic) Cathedral and the Dansalan (Islamic) Mosque. We posit that the destruction of such spaces brings about feelings and thoughts of disembodiment among religious followers. This study asks the question: How do religious followers experience personalized disembodiment as sacred spaces are devastated? We elicit visual representations and collective narratives through a focus group discussion with drawing activities among Christians and Muslims in Marawi. Results reveal that Christians and Muslims experience disembodiment by psychologically fusing the material destruction of their sacred spaces with the decimation of their own bodies. Findings of this study present the vital role of sacred spaces in escalating and deescalating armed conflict.
Public Significance StatementThis research explains the process of personalized disembodiment as religious followers psychologically fuse physical destruction of sacred spaces with the decimation of their bodies. Findings of this study present the vital role of sacred spaces in reducing violence and promoting peace during armed hostilities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.