Economics vs. Politics: New Labour, New Language?

This course aims to investigate the impact of recent economic changes on political ideologies in the United Kingdom. The political awareness of a global and unregulated market seems to have triggered a radical restructuring of political ideologies in the United Kingdom, especially on the left. Focusing on the period from 1995 to 2008, we will attempt to analyse this transformation by analysing the linguistic and discoursive features which distinguish New Labour’s public communication. We will try to describe how the taken-for-granted acceptance of a global world economy shapes a different political offer and causes a radical change of Labour Party’s political identity.