Feminist Protest Slogans as Speech Acts: A Pragmatic Study of Resistance, Solidarity and Mobilization

This study investigates the pragmatic dimensions of feminist slogans as performative tools within contemporary social activism. Grounded in Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1979) and Judith Butler’s theory of linguistic performativity, and enriched by feminist critiques of uptake and discursive legitimacy (e.g., Hornsby & Langton, 1998, Dotson 2011; Fricker, 2007; Meyeroff, 2004), the study explores how feminist slogans function within discourse and operate at the intersection of language, power, and identity. The research is guided by three questions: (1) Do feminist slogans perform speech acts? (2) Do feminist slogans rely on pragmatic strategies such as implicature and presupposition? (3) To what extent, and under what conditions, do feminist slogans act as vehicles of resistance, solidarity, and mobilization? Using a qualitative, comparative pragmatic methodology, the study draws on a curated corpus of slogans from recent protest contexts and digital movements (e.g., #MeToo, Women’s March). It focuses primarily on their illocutionary force and its constraints. Findings suggest that feminist slogans often exceed the classical model of speech acts, operating across layered pragmatic strategies whose force is shaped by structural conditions, affective resonance, and contested uptake. This research contributes to sociolinguistics, feminist theory, and discourse analysis by showing how slogans function not only as linguistic expressions, but as catalysts for reimagining power, recognition, and collective belonging.