Legitimation strategies in revolutionary discourse
What is it about?
This study explores how Jerry John Rawlings, a Ghanaian revolutionary leader, licensed his actions, including political enemy executions and a crackdown on corrupt practices by examining the legitimation strategies he used in his revolutionary discourse.
Why is it important?
The study adapts and extends van Leeuwen’s legitimation framework by demonstrating how Rawlings exploited historical memory and the notion of sacrifice in conjunction with the strategies of authorization, rationalization and moralization to formulate his revolutionary rhetoric. By analyzing how legitimation strategies are shaped by sociocultural factors and local politics, we have theoretically offered new insights into how legitimation is discursively enacted to achieve various political goals in discourse generally and revolutionary discourse more specifically. At the same time, the study illustrates the persuasive power of revolutionary discourses in terms of how they function ideologically in the message they communicate (or exaggerate) and conceal.