Plenary speakers | Influence, Manipulation, Seduction 3

Charlotte Taylor

Professor of Discourse and Persuasion (University of Sussex)

Charlotte Taylor is Professor Discourse & Persuasion at the University of Sussex. Her research is concerned with how language is used to effect change in our evaluation, understanding and action. Her projects have included analyses of the language of mock politeness, the representations of migration and people who move, the rhetorical functions of water metaphors, and the persuasive use of nostalgia in discourse. She combines the framework of corpus linguistics with (critical) discourse studies and pragmatics and has a long-standing methodological interest in the impact of the researcher on the researched and the role of absence and silence in discourse.

Massimiliano Demata

Professor of English Linguistics (University of Catania)

Massimiliano Demata is Full Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Catania. He has published articles and book chapters on political and media discourse in the UK and the USA, conspiracy theories, computer-mediated communication, the language of populism and discourses of borders, nationalism and immigration. His latest single-authored monograph is Discourses of Nation and the Borders in the USA (Routledge 2022) and in 2023 he co-authored Voices of Supporters. Populist parties, social media and the 2019 European elections(John Benjamins). He co-edited Conspiracy Theory Discourses(John Benjamins 2022) and the Routledge Handbook of Discourse and Disinformation(2024). He has lectured or has been visiting professor in universities in Austria, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Sweden, the UK and the USA. He is also the Editor of the Journal of Language and Discrimination, published by the University of Toronto Press.

Katarina Pettersson

Assistant Professor of Social Psychology (University of Helsinki)

Katarina Pettersson is Assistant Professor of Social Psychology and Academy Research Fellow (2025–2029) at the University of Helsinki. Her research explores how persuasive language shapes political identities, gendered ideologies, and processes of polarization in contemporary societies. She examines right-wing populist rhetoric, anti-feminist discourse, and online hate, with particular attention to how collective identities and moral boundaries are discursively constructed and legitimized. Methodologically, her work draws on critical discursive, rhetorical, and multimodal approaches, combining social psychological theory with fine-grained analysis of language in political speeches, media texts, and digital platforms. Pettersson leads the Research Council of Finland-funded YOPO project on gender polarization among young people, investigating how polarizing narratives circulate across social and digital contexts and how they influence belonging, participation, and democratic engagement. She also directs the MOSH project on urban micro-segregation, examining how everyday spatial and communicative practices reproduce or challenge social divisions.