Introduction: The origins of The Routledge Handbook of Language in Conflict

This chapter provides a framework for the different ways in which language impinges on conflict as a way through the morass of potential research approaches that could be relevant. It shows that the importance of language in conflict has been recognised in the fields, but the lack of further development beyond acknowledging a “linguistic turn" may reflect the absence of linguistic input into those fields themselves. The contemporary constructionist/constructivist emphasis in the social sciences - on “making"meaning - implies an integral role for language in constituting psychological and social realities and is evident even in volumes intended primarily for the student. More clearly belonging to the public arena, is that which studies confrontational broadcast talk and how the manipulation of situational norms and language resources can be used to set up the potential for conflict. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.