Studying political disputes: A rhetorical perspective and a case study
| Author | Sophia Hatzisavvidou |
| DOI | 10.1177/0263395720940883 |
| Published date | 01 May 2022 |
| Date | 01 May 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395720940883
Politics
2022, Vol. 42(2) 185 –199
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0263395720940883
journals.sagepub.com/home/pol
Studying political disputes: A
rhetorical perspective and a
case study
Sophia Hatzisavvidou
University of Bath, UK
Abstract
This article argues that rhetorical analysis is a method particularly well-suited for the study of
political disputes and introduces commonplaces as a tool to conduct such analysis. Commonplaces
function as key reference points that produce and organise social meaning; they can thus help to
clarify the terms of the dispute and illuminate how these are linked to broader debates within the
political community. Commonplaces call into attention sedimented views and point to alternative
norms of action pursued by agents of change and therefore to entry points for recontestation.
The article substantiates this claim through a case study that maps arguments for climate action in
party manifestos in the 2019 General Election in the United Kingdom. A rhetorical analysis of the
material highlights the emergence of a number of insurgent commonplaces that seek to disturb
the dominance of ‘economic growth’ as principle that informs climate action. Commonplaces can
provide a more nuanced understanding of public debates, help to identify sedimented ideological
views, and illuminate openings for recontestation and the pursuit of alternative socio-ecological
arrangements.
Keywords
climate change, commonplaces, political dispute, rhetorical analysis
Received: 15th January 2020; Revised version received: 12th May 2020; Accepted: 10th June 2020
Introduction
Dispute is a key marker of politics as a domain of action. From Aristotle to Arendt and
from Machiavelli to Mouffe, political thinkers acknowledge the irreducibly conflictual
nature of politics. The omnipresence of dispute is the result not only of the pluralism of
interests and values that characterise political communities, but also of the instability of
core political ideas such as justice and equality. Political dispute takes the form of antago-
nistic claims that are created and articulated around symbols that people can understand
and identify with; disputes are constituted through rhetoric, namely discursive interven-
tions that address specific audiences for a definitive purpose, that of inducing cooperation
Corresponding author:
Sophia Hatzisavvidou, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies, University of Bath,
Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
Email: s.hatzisavvidou@bath.ac.uk
940883POL0010.1177/0263395720940883PoliticsHatzisavvidou
research-article2020
Special Issue Article
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