IDENTIFYING THE BLIND SPOTS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING ACADEMIC DISCOURSE ON THE PAKISTAN LAWYERS’ MOVEMENT

Abstract

Discourse, including academic discourse, is rhetorical. Following this line of reasoning, we undertake a comparative, thematic discourse analysis of the existing body of political science research on the Lawyers’ Movement of Pakistan using the insights provided by CDA. Through our analysis, we argue that not just social phenomena but also the academic discourses through which those social phenomena are communicated to the world of research should be put under the microscope as the latter can contribute to perpetuating political injustice by simply affirming the discourses of the prevailing political environment as opposed to unpacking, studying and critiquing them. The findings of this research have implications for the fields of communication, political science and discourse analysis.