Relational Power from Switching across Netdoms through Reflexive and Indexical Language

Abstract

We argue from a relational perspective that the reflexive and indexical dimensions of language are critical to understand “relations” formation in contemporary life. These dimensions are fundamental in the production of meaning ambiguity characteristic of social relations in highly differentiated and post-industrial orders. Moreover, as we show below, we also argue that language’s reflexive and indexical dimensions—far from producing consensual achievements—are unequally deployed and circulate unevenly among networks of relations, leading to various types of control and power mechanisms.