Us and Them Redefined: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Socialist Identity and Counter-Narrative in Mamdani’s 2025 Mayoral Victory Speech
Abstract
This qualitative study conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Zohran Mamdani's 2025 New York City mayoral victory speech, examining how language constructs socialist political identity through an "Us versus Them" binary. Drawing on Fairclough's three-dimensional model and van Dijk's socio-cognitive approach, the analysis reveals how Mamdani systematically builds a positive "US" representing working-class people, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQ individuals, and other marginalised communities and constructs a negative "THEM" defined by wealth, political power, and exclusionary practices, not by race, religion, or nationality. The speech employs nomination, predication, and metaphorical strategies to promote class-based solidarity and counter Islamophobic narratives prevalent in the post-Trump era. Findings demonstrate that the "Us vs. Them" framework can serve progressive, counter-hegemonic purposes by uniting diverse coalitions against economic and political elites rather than targeting vulnerable communities. Mamdani's inclusive rhetoric actively bridges internal differences within his coalition by redirecting tensions toward a common enemy and redefining political legitimacy on inclusive terms. This study contributes to CDA scholarship by examining left-wing populist discourse as an alternative to right-wing exclusionary rhetoric, offering insights into how political language can challenge existing power structures and build collective solidarity across identity divides.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, political discourse, socialist identity, Us vs Them, counter-narrative, Mamdani, populism.
