Friendly fire: war‐normalizing metaphors in the Israeli political discourse

Which Hill Would You Die on?: Examining the Use of War-Normalizing Metaphors in Social Justice Leaders’ Discourse and Practice

“…We acknowledge that this is a difficult task because many educational leaders are unaware of the irony of using war metaphors to describe an altruistic practice such as social justice leadership (Lumby & English, 2010). War-normalizing metaphors “make us forget what war basically implies: death, bereavement, anguish and physical and mental destruction” (Gavriely-Nuri, 2009, p. 157). We agree with these authors that there are deeply laden meanings in the frequency and acceptance of the military metaphors in education that require further scrutiny.…”

“…Data were derived from a larger study examining the micropolitics of social justice leadership. While exploring the micropolitical strategies participants used in their practice, our analysis uncovered that participants often employed “war-normalizing metaphors” (Gavriely-Nuri, 2009, p. 153) when describing their work and contexts. While evidence of war-normalizing discourses in the academy exists (Taber, 2014), little (if any) research has been conducted regarding their use by social justice leaders in K–12 settings.…”