Language Use in Social Activism: An Analysis of Protest Slogans at The Women's March in Washington, DC, 2020

Desi, Fitria Rezkiani (2026) Language Use in Social Activism: An Analysis of Protest Slogans at The Women's March in Washington, DC, 2020. S1 thesis, Universitas Andalas.

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Abstract

This study analyzed the language used in protest slogans at the Women's March in Washington, DC, in 2020, focusing on how slogans functioned as tools of social activism. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the study examined 45 slogans collected from online image documentation. It analyzed them through Peter Trudgill's theory of language and sex and Theo Van Leeuwen's Social Actor Representation framework. The findings revealed that Civil Rights was the most dominant theme, appearing in 25 slogans (55.6% of the data). Other themes, such as Cessation of Violence, LGBTQA Rights, Reproductive Rights, Immigrant Rights, Environmental Justice, and Workers' Rights, appeared less frequently but still contributed important messages. To express resistance, urgency, and empowerment, protesters used slogans as linguistic tools, employing standard, humorous, and non-standard language in social activism. The slogans also represented social actors through Theo Van Leeuwen's Social Actor Representation framework, including inclusion (activation, classification, somatization, and possessivation) and exclusion (agent deletion and nominalization), positioning protesters as active and autonomous agents. Overall, the findings demonstrate that protest slogans functioned as powerful linguistic tools for expressing and inspiring collective resistance in social activism.

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