En cette année de reprise en présentiel, le séminaire d’Engage visera à appuyer et prolonger les travaux de ses membres lors de moments d’échanges et de rencontres ouverts à toutes les personnes intéressées. À partir d’interventions de chercheurs et chercheuses pour la plupart externes à l’Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles, il s’agira de nourrir les réflexions du centre en les élargissant à d’autres horizons de recherche. Les thématiques abordées seront dès lors variées tout en s’inscrivant dans les axes de recherche du centre. Chaque séance consistera en une ou plusieurs intervention(s) en lien avec la thématique retenue que nous prolongerons grâce à des échanges soutenus par un cadre que nous souhaitons tant stimulant que bienveillant. Un moment de détente sous forme de lunch et/ou de drink conclura ces rencontres si les conditions sanitaires le permettent.
The Engage seminar aims to support and extend the work of its members through exchanges and meetings open to all interested parties. Based on the contributions of researchers, most of whom come from outside the Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles, the aim is to feed the center’s reflections by broadening them to other research horizons. The themes addressed are therefore varied while remaining within the center’s research areas. Each session consists of one or two presentations related to the chosen theme, which we extend through discussions in a context that we hope is both stimulating and benevolent. A lunch and/or drink conclude the session if the health conditions allow it.
Session of April 21st, 2022
Complicity in Discourse and Practice — On derailed reflexivity and shared responsibility
It is commonplace to say that we are living in troubled times. Liberal democracy is in crisis. Academic freedom is seriously constrained. The media offers less insight and analysis than could be expected given the proliferation of communication tools. Based on research into the social and ideological functioning of discourse and with a focus on politics, universities, and the media, this presentation offers an analysis of current practices, asks whether and how we are all complicit, and makes suggestions for possible remedies.
Central to the argument is the notion of derailed reflexivity, referring to the observation that politics, institutions, and news reporting tend to be excessively aimed at public opinion, impression management, and clicks, to the detriment of policies addressing social justice issues, high-quality service, and media content. Highlighting that education is the cornerstone for democratic choices and ensures that we can critically assess media content, it will be argued that hope can be found in shared responsibility, in everyone’s power to intervene in the maintenance of an ecology of the public sphere.
Jef Verschueren received a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California at Berkeley. After a long career as a researcher for the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research, and as Professor of Linguistics at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2001 to 2009, he is now Professor Emeritus. He is the founder and Secretary General of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA).
Infos & Registrations
The event is free but registration is mandatory via this link
When ? 21/04/2022, 14h – 17h
Where ? Local P61 (6th floor)
Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles
119 Rue du marais (Parking Entrance, Prefecture Building)
1000 – Bruxelles
Registrations : click on the link