“Sign and Make Your Mark on the World a Positive One”

A Discourse and Genre Analysis of UK Online Petitions to Reduce Single-Use Plastics

Abstract

The increased availability of the Internet and its growing interactivity have led to the emergence of new forms of civic engagement. In particular, e-petitions websites have brought into our time the centuries-old right to petition the rulers. The present study analyzes a corpus collecting a selection of online petitions against unnecessary plastic usage published on the British version of Change.org, one of the most popular e-petitioning platforms. The texts were examined by integrating discourse and genre analysis perspectives to uncover the recurring strategies exploited by petitioners to gain support for their environmental causes. The investigation revealed the way organisers appeal to the readers’ civic sense and sensitivity by emphasising the severity of damages of marine litter, reporting environmental information from multiple sources, raising awareness about legal loopholes and asking companies and institutions to lead by example.