‘Can you pass the salt?’ The legitimacy of international institutions and indirect speech
Journal: European Journal of International Relations
Year: 2015

This article introduces the concept of indirect speech and shows what it can contribute to understanding ‘legitimacy talk’ regarding international institutions. Indirect speech occurs when one kind of illocutionary act is used to communicate another. Examples include euphemism, some forms of politeness and when a request is expressed as a question (‘Can you pass the salt?’). Transporting concepts from pragmatics and sociolinguistics, this article argues that legitimacy talk often serves this fun