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Morality is pervasive, touching all aspects of social life. The contributors to this volume provide an introduction to research on how morality is socially constructed in and through discourse, and the implications of this for the empirical analysis and theorization of morality. The volume addresses both how morality gets done through everyday practices, as well as the practical concerns that discussions of morality inevitably entail. It does so by delving into how morality is socially constructed in an array of communicative environments through the lens of a range of different discourse analytic traditions. Drawing on the conceptual tools of moral stance, positioning, responsiveness and authority, the chapters address the ways in which morality is enacted, interactionally negotiated, contested and policed. What emerges from these discussions and analyses is an understanding of morality from a discursive perspective that encompasses both morality as action, in which moral stances become the articulated object of action, and moral framing, in which the situated context itself is morally charged for evaluation.

Starting with Richard Rorty's critique of reason, this book discusses modernity's legitimation crisis in political discourse. Rorty, Public Reason, and Modernity's Crisis of Critique explores the contemporary crisis of rational justification and collective will-formation in our current political institutions and the public sphere, arguing that there is an array of untapped rational resources that should be deployed to justify social, political, and economic views, agendas, and programs. It also identifies limits to the powers of public reason to generate rational agreement and collective will-formation. Using a critical analysis of Rorty's non-foundationalist perspective as a vehicle to study modernity's project of rational critique, Ivan Marquez highlights both the strengths and promise and the weaknesses and limitations of liberal and democratic societies—especially within pluralistic socio-cultural contexts—and some possible ways to work within this space of possibilities and constraints. Ultimately, this book can be seen as elaborating a political epistemology view that argues for a redefinition of philosophy and defends a type of post-metaphysical culture.

This student guide is an introduction to research on language and digital communication, providing an overview of relevant sociolinguistic concepts, analytical frameworks, and methodological approaches commonly used in the field. The book is a practical guide designed to help students develop independent research projects on language and digital communication. Topics covered include: the emergence of research on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), interactional affordances and the design infrastructures of digital platforms, practical and ethical guidance in designing and implementing a research project on digital communication, contemporary approaches in the sociolinguistics of digital communication such as Computational Sociolinguistics (CS) and interactional analyses, and the impact of social and digital media on language change.Chapters are organised thematically, each supplemented with examples from various platforms and sociolinguistic contexts, as well as further reading and activities to scaffold students'learning.The interdisciplinary relevance of this topic makes it key reading for students from A-level English language to undergraduate and postgraduate students in linguistics, English language, media studies, digital culture, and communications.Additional online resources are available on the Routledge Language and Communication Portal.