🧵 This is a perfect example of how disordered discourse reshapes democratic politics, not by policy failure, but by the performative targeting of identity. Let’s unpack what’s happening.
one of the most insane normalized aspects of our political climate is politicians going after their own constituents in the name of anti-wokeness. what are we doing here
An elected official is publicly mocking a student for wearing a kufiyeh, having purple hair, and using they/them pronouns. Not because it affects governance, not because it harms anyone.
But because, in the age of culture war politics, symbolic identity is the battleground.
This is what happens when discourse becomes detached from evidence, deliberation, and accountability. Instead of engaging with real issues, politicians compete in a theatre of outrage.
The student isn’t a person here, they’re a prop in a narrative war.
In disordered discourse:
Engagement > accuracy
Performance > governance
Emotion > evidence
Identity = target
The logic of the algorithm now structures political speech. It rewards those who dramatise difference and punish deviation from the tribe.
May 22, 2025 17:32I completely agree with your analysis but as a fellow critical discourse analysis person I’m curious about the choice of “disordered” discourse.
