Forschungsgruppe Diskursmonitor und Diskursintervention (Eds.): (De)Legitimation von Protest (2026)

The legitimacy of protest is a contested resource in public discourse. It determines whether the forms and goals of protest are considered appropriate and worthy of approval, or rather disruptive, misguided, or even criminal. 

Using case studies, this volume examines the linguistic and communicative practices through which actors contend for the legitimacy of hegemonic and state orders or of political positions: narratives, patterns of argumentation, stereotypical attributions, and more. The contributions address various areas of social conflict: protest in the context of war and autocratic systems (the Middle East conflict, Serbia, Ukraine, the GDR, and Nazism), in the context of gender discourses (such as online antifeminism or on the sidelines of sports events), and in the context of migration and climate discourses.

Ultimately, the contributions demonstrate that societal acceptance of forms of protest is not only in a state of constant flux but also serves as a barometer for the state of democracy and the culture of debate.

This volume continues the discussion initiated by the “Diskursmonitor” research group (https://diskursmonitor.de), which began at a conference in June 2026 at the Free University of Berlin.