Performativity of protest statements in a democracy – on the example of the women’s protests in Poland

Abstract

Public discourse is one of the spheres in which the common understanding of legal language concepts, as well as many legal institutions, is shaped. We can find many elements of discourse in social media nowadays. Another discursive element in the public sphere may be demonstrations, during which participants present diverse slogans on banners. The article aims to find out the nature of statements formulated by participants of demonstrations in Poland, particularly in the context of the performative potential of the slogans presented, from the point of view of their social impact. The theoretical background of the research was provided by the concept of performative speech acts developed by John L. Austin and John R. Searle. An analysis of the empirical material from the public sphere was carried out. The research process used the method of discourse analysis with a particular reference to elements of linguistic and contextual analysis. The material includes primarily the participants’ communications in the so-called Black Protest and its follow-up, the Women’s Strike. The interdisciplinary analysis of the materials carried out in this way makes it possible to decode the performative meaning of the messages created by the citizens participating in the demonstrations which were focused on the problem of access to abortion in Poland. The conducted research allows the performative practices within demonstration statements to be explored. The presented findings lead to a qualitative widening of the perception of citizen activism within democratic processes. They also signal the need for further research on the phenomena of social activism in the public sphere and legal discourse involving non-lawyer citizens.