Dialects of Discord: Changing Vocabularies in the Dutch Cruise Missile Discussion

TY - JOUR

T1 - Dialects of Discord

T2 - Changing Vocabularies in the Dutch Cruise Missile Discussion

AU - Futselaar, Ralf

AU - Lange, van, Milan

PY - 2023/6/29

Y1 - 2023/6/29

N2 - This paper investigates the changing vocabulary used in Dutch parliamentary debates during the cruise missile controversy and its immediate aftermath (1970-1990). Using word embedding models (WEMs), we show that while declared policy preferences were rigid throughout the period, the preferred terminology of politicians changed markedly under the influence of public protests and the thawing of Soviet-US relations during the 1980s. We show how application of a Word Embedding Model (WEM) can be used to reveal, in a systematic manner, changes in tone in historical political vocabulary.

AB - This paper investigates the changing vocabulary used in Dutch parliamentary debates during the cruise missile controversy and its immediate aftermath (1970-1990). Using word embedding models (WEMs), we show that while declared policy preferences were rigid throughout the period, the preferred terminology of politicians changed markedly under the influence of public protests and the thawing of Soviet-US relations during the 1980s. We show how application of a Word Embedding Model (WEM) can be used to reveal, in a systematic manner, changes in tone in historical political vocabulary.

KW - Word embeddings

KW - word2vec

KW - nuclear weapons

KW - popular protest

KW - parliamentary history

U2 - 10.1515/JDH-2022-0006?locatt=label:JDHFULL

DO - 10.1515/JDH-2022-0006?locatt=label:JDHFULL

M3 - Article

SN - 2747-5271

VL - 2

JO - Journal of Digital History

JF - Journal of Digital History

IS - 1

ER -