MARS - George Mason University

My research data are drawn from Senate, House, Office of Inspector General,
FEMA, and White House investigative reports. I have watched press conferences and
read the transcripts from interviews, TV shows, radio broadcasts, congressional hearings,
and teleconferences. I have studied documentary footage; memoirs; memos; firsthand
accounts; newspaper, magazine, and journal articles; New Orleans blogs; emails; and
conducted personal interviews; inter alia.
I used positioning theory to examine the local moral order, which is a system of
rights, duties, and obligations founded on the “symbolically mediated interactions
between people” 1). Deep interconnections between
agency, power, knowledge, and worldview emerged. My research explored how the
positioning dynamics shaped this event and contributed to and exacerbated the
miscommunications and delays.
The positioning systems disclosed implied, unspoken assumptions that became
critical to the decision-making of the Key Parties. Character traits were insinuated in the
discourse and were revealed through speech acts and narratives. These defining traits of
the Key Parties are discussed in the sections below. Positioning theory language
describes this as “characterological” analysis.
Analyzing the discourse of the Key Parties, we see an unfolding narrative that can
be engaged in order to confront, challenge, or bolster the story line. I have taken Linda
Johnston’s recommendation and searched the discourse for values and turning points
(286-87). Stories become subject to transformation or reification as the events and Key
8