The Neoliberal Lexicon
The UAF Department of Anthropology invites you to an insightful PhD Dissertation Proposal Defense by Tara Palmer. Her research explores how public adult education policy in the U.S. is shaped by rhetorical and discursive processes, particularly in the context of neoliberal governance.
In an era where state responsibilities increasingly shift to individuals, multilingual adult learners often face barriers in accessing education and resources. Tara鈥檚 study examines how policymakers employ a "neoliberal register"鈥攁 distinct linguistic style that conveys shared priorities, assumptions, and social identities. Through discourse analysis, she investigates how policy documents entextualize and reinforce neoliberal subjectivities, particularly impacting adult immigrants navigating language education policies.
This defense presents a critical look at how language, power, and ideology intersect in policymaking, influencing educational opportunities for multilingual communities. Join us in supporting Tara as she shares her important research!
Abstract
This project approaches policy making as a rhetorical and discursive process in which access to resources is regulated. In the neoliberal economic landscape of the US, what were historically considered responsibilities of the State have increasingly been devolved onto individuals. I will use discourse analysis to examine the creation of public adult education policy as a high-stakes, language-dependent, and socially-impactful process, especially in relation to multilingual adults. In the context of policy-making, the research aims to demonstrate how social actors make use of an identifiable linguistic style: 鈥渘eoliberal register.鈥 This register is a resource that people involved in policy making implicitly appeal to and assert shared assumptions, priorities and social identities. I will examine the communicative processes through which policy documents produce and reproduce neoliberal subjectivities and are constrained by the linguistic conventions of the neoliberal register.
The dissertation proposes to document this register and examine how those who are tasked with policy-making and implementation entextualize 鈥 make tangible and circulable鈥 neoliberal subjectivities, in particular, regarding adult immigrants for whom English is an additional language.
About UAF Department of Anthropology
The UAF Department of Anthropology is committed to exploring human cultures, histories, and languages. Through rigorous research and education, our faculty and students contribute to a deeper understanding of human societies across time and space.