(DE)LEGITIMIZATION AS THE DISCURSIVE STRATEGY OF IDEOLOGY

Abstract: In this paper the processes of (de)legitimization are analyzed as discursive practices and forms of knowledge and discursive strategies which enable articulation and functional constituting of ideology. The processes at issue here are those emerging as a consequence of imbalance in the power relations, that is, as consequences of articulation of different interests and struggles of social actors. In the paper we start from the assumption that ideological discourses as forms of knowledge and discourses of (de)legitimization provide the members of social groups with the resources for social classification, their understanding of social relations, social events as well as other social groups. (De)legitimization discourses likewise represent requests for certain behavior and actions, that is, the discourses that justify and/or discredit particular social practices and groups. They are also ways of monitoring social relations. In the paper four major categories of legitimization are emphasized, namely, authorization, moral evaluation, rationalization and mythopoesis as well as the most important areas of (de)legitimization, namely affiliation, action, goals, norms, values, social positions and accesses to social resources. In the conclusion the processes of (de)legitimization are qualified as important strategies of ideologies contributing to changes, classification and reproduction of social practices.Key words: (de)legitimization, discourse, social practices, ideology, strategy