COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
LIDiD
Discourse and Law
Research Laboratory
Discoursive research, judicial practice, social transformation
The Discourse and Law Research Laboratory (LIDiD) at the Centre of Discourse Studies is an interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to fostering critical research into legal practice from the perspective of Discourse Studies.
We operate on the conviction that discourse analysis allows us to understand how legal norms and practices are constructed, interpreted, and applied, and how they impact social life. In this sense, we understand legal discourse as the collection of texts (both oral and written), communicative practices, and language structures used in law to express, interpret, and apply norms, judicial and administrative decisions, and public policies.
LIDiD aims to comprehend what legal discourse is and how it generates meaning, influences legal decisions, and defines forms of interaction between legal professionals and society. This enables us to identify tensions, biases, and potentialities within contemporary legal culture.
LIDiD is designed as an innovative space for dialogue and collaboration among individuals from diverse disciplines. It comprises students, academics, and professionals with experience in Discourse Studies, as well as in law, criminology, and political science, all interested in enriching and providing feedback for academic research based on their field experience.
LIDiD is committed not only to theoretical development but also to the collective construction of knowledge that links the critical analysis of language and Discourse Studies with the current challenges of legal practice. This dialogue between theory and practice seeks to enrich the critical analysis of legal discourse and enables the generation of proposals with genuine real-world relevance and practical applicability.
Objetives
Our research, seminars, and collaborative encounters enable us to:
-
Develop tools for the critical analysis of legal discourse, applicable in fields such as legislation, the judiciary, criminology, public policy, and political science.
-
Identify and analyse inequalities, biases, and ideological structures present within legal discourse.
-
Foster interdisciplinary training to better comprehend legal systems and their interaction with society.
-
Promote a critical awareness of the use of legal language as a social practice.
Executive Director
Carolina Rea Gómez
She holds a MA in Constitutional Law from Universidad Iberoamericana and is a former public servant in Mexico. Her research interests focus on normative design, language and law, and the application of Discourse Studies to legal practice, particularly concerning human rights and cultural rights from a critical perspective. She is a collaborator with the Centre of Discourse Studies in the field of discourse and law.
Contact: c.rea@discoursestudies.org
Linkedin: Carolina Rea Gomez
Director of Academic Affairs
Carlos Alberto Alza
He holds a Master's in Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), is a lawyer from PUCP, and is a PhD (c) in Political and Social Sciences from Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He served as Deputy Ombudsman for the Defensoría del Pueblo of Peru and has consulted for national and international institutions such as UNICEF, Save The Children, the World Bank, and GIZ. He is a university researcher and lecturer specialising in public policy and management, human rights, sexual diversity, and technological innovation. For many years, he has been applying and studying discourse analysis in institutional, policy, managerial, and regulatory reforms, with a focus on human rights.
Contact: carlosalberto.alza@upf.edu
Linkedin: Carlos Alberto Alza
Work Streams
Explore about our Work Streams:
-
Legal Culture and Argumentation
-
Discrimination and Inequality
-
Gender and Sexual Diversity
-
Migration and Racism
Legal Culture and Argumentation
This area focuses on studying legal argumentation as one of the most structured forms of legal language and its key role in constructing legal discourse.
By analysing legal texts, we explore how the law is not only applied, but also articulated, justified, and discursively legitimised. This group also addresses legal culture as a network of discourses, communicative practices, and social representations that shape how the law is understood, transmitted, and exercised across different institutions.
Our aim is to analyse the languages of law, as well as the speech acts that underpin power relations and worldviews within the legal field.
Members:
-
Alexandro Teixeira
-
Laura Bolívar
-
César Machaca
-
Blanca Susana Moncada
-
Raúl Puello
Discrimination and Inequality
This area is dedicated to a critical analysis of the role legal discourse plays in reproducing or normalising structural inequalities that affect historically vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, young people, children, and indigenous communities.
The focus is on studying how forms of legal enunciation, the use of legal language, social representations, and the ideological dimension influence how these groups are named, regulated, protected – or excluded – by the normative system. Particular attention is paid to the legal discourses that define the rights, duties, and capacities of these groups, as well as to discursive omissions that reinforce their invisibilisation.
The objective is to contribute to the creation of analytical tools and discursive proposals that foster equity and respect for diversity in both language and legal institutions.
Members:
-
Paulo D. Aniceto
-
Sergio Ávalos
-
Dennis Dávila
-
Daniel Delgado
-
Sofía Flores
-
Cecilia Guillén
-
Diana Marisela Godoy
-
Alexcina Oliveira
Gender and Sexual Diversity
This area focuses on the critical analysis of legal discourse in relation to gender identities and sexual diversity, recognising that the law not only regulates behaviour but also produces categories, legitimises inequalities, or enables forms of recognition.
The group studies how legal discourses contribute to the construction, stabilisation, or transformation of gender and sexual identities within the legal field.
The objective is to contribute to a discursive transformation of law, promoting the use of critical and liberating language, and enabling progress towards legal frameworks that recognise the plurality of identities and effectively protect the rights of all individuals.
Members:
-
Natalia Fernández
-
Carlos José Giraldo
-
Luz Carolina Gracia
-
Alazne Irigoien
-
Angélica Martínez
-
Javiera Alejandra Matus
-
Micheli Rosa
-
Chiara Sarni
-
Carlos Sosa
Migration and Racism
This area focuses on the critical analysis of legal discourses that regulate human mobility and contribute to the construction of racialisation processes and the exclusion of migrants and racialised communities.
From an interdisciplinary perspective, we investigate how legal discourse and normative frameworks produce legal identities that have not only legal effects, but also symbolic and material consequences, reinforcing stigmas about migration.
The objective of this core area is to generate analytical tools that allow for the re-signification of legal discourses and simultaneously enable spaces for resistance, reinterpretation, and agency.
Members:
-
Natalia Cárdenas
-
Angélica Duca
-
Ida Saidini
-
Pasi Suutari
-
Vania Tamara Jamanca
-
Bernardo José Toro
-
Johanna Torres
Activities
SE-LIDiD 2025: First Seminar on Critical Discourse Analysis and Law
Dates: From 8 April to 22 July 2025
This LIDiD internal seminar primarily aims to build a shared knowledge base on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and its specific methodology, exploring its application within the legal field.
Throughout the sessions, we'll delve into the methodological aspects of CDA and its relevance for analysing legislative texts, judicial decisions, and the role of law in constructing normative social discourse. We'll draw on the key work by Ruth Wodak and Michael Meyer (2003) on CDA methods to understand its essential elements and its potential in the legal field (including public policy).
Each session will combine theoretical presentations from the various Analysis Cores, practical case studies, group discussions, and session reports. The final concluding session will feature the presence of Professor Teun van Dijk.