An examination of delegitimation in the activist discourse of Ghana's #FixTheCountry lead convener Oliver Barker-Vormawor

Abstract

This article examines the delegitimation strategies used by Oliver Barker-Vormawor, political activist and the lead convener of Ghana’s #FixTheCountry movement. The analysis of Barker-Vormawor’s Facebook posts reveals that he employed three main delegitimation strategies to formulate a conviction rhetoric aimed at discrediting Ghana’s governance under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and validating his activism and the goals of his #FixTheCountry movement. These strategies are authorization, rationalization, and moral evaluation and they help Barker-Vormawor to construct himself as a patriot, a noble revolutionary, and a selfless leader who has the welfare of the Ghanaian people at heart. The study extends research on the construction of online activist discourses and demonstrates that research on the (de)legitimation mechanisms of “unconstitutional authorities” is necessary to enhance our understanding of (online) activist discourse and how contentious politics is conceptualized and performed.

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