The radicalisation of discourse and the increasing polarisation of a dichotomised society

Abstract

The discourse on changes in the law regulating the availability of abortion and the effective punishment of clergy pedophilia has undergone significant changes in recent years, becoming the subject of excessive media and group interest, which is referred to in the literature as moral panic. Actions aimed at changing the law through public policies in their classical sense, despite discursively significant developments, have not resulted in the resolution of the phenomena discussed in this article. The study carried out using critical discourse analysis of key media messages and analysis of the data found allows the conclusion to be drawn that further divisions are currently taking place within highly polarised groups and that the language and demands used and formulated by the participants in the discourse are being radicalised. The aim of this radicalisation is to achieve goals, but defined differently. This process leads to changes in the functioning of symbolic elites. “Old” elites, once setting the moral values and goals of the environment’s actions, guided by political logic and gaining access to power, are put in the conflict with “new” elites, whose goals are set by politico-public logic and who reject the systemic struggle to implement their demands.