Presenter: Saurav Kumar, AAU

Field: Business Intelligence

Paper: Critical Discourse Analysis of Bitcoin Proponents Using Structural Topic Modeling: A Temporal Perspective

Abstract: Using the context of Bitcoin, we explore how proponents envision a future that breaks away from present institutionalized conventions and realities, while a concrete microcosm of the desired future is also available in the present. We further explore the temporal work employed by proponents to galvanize action for such a future. We conceptualize such future orientations as "near-distant future”, which blends properties of both distant and near futures. They are presented as expressions of morals, values, and desires, but those visions are tied to the concrete alternatives available in the present. They are, therefore, evaluated based on both desirability and feasibility. Unlike the near future scenario, where to galvanize action, continuity between past, present, and future is framed through a linear flow of time, continuity in near-distant futures is framed through a cyclical flow of time. We also underscore the role of ontological questioning - discourse that challenges the perceived objectivity of taken-for-granted practices and behaviours in aiding the temporal work and galvanizing action for the near-distant future.

Host: Allan Würtz