Rhetoric in British Politics and Society

'Rhetorics in British Politics and Society is a unique book. It is the most comprehensive survey of the place of rhetoric in British political culture available at the moment. It is also a unique exercise in using rhetorical theory to understand contemporary political communication, which shows the potential of rhetoric as a paradigm in communication studies and political science. The authors say that the antidote to bad, manipulative rhetoric is not no rhetoric, but good rhetoric. They rightly draw our attention to the fact that the teaching and training of rhetorical skills, even if these do not go under that name anymore, is, in Britain, still the pregorative of the privileged and there it is often limited to an understanding of persuasion that stems from the hierarchical, paternalistic past of our political and social instutions. Much needs to be done to create new forms and understandings of what it means to 'speak well' and to democratise the teaching of rhetoric. The authors show that politics and civil society cannot afford to ignore rhetoric, its past and even more so its future' - Johan Siebers, Division of English Language, Linguistics, Literature and Culture, University of Central Lancashire, UK

Bridget Byrne University of Manchester, UK Robin Burrow, University of Buckingham, UK Andrew Scott Crines, University of Leeds, UK Katherine Dommett, University of Sheffield, UK Neil Foxlee, University of Central Lancashire, UK Richard Hayton, University of Leeds, UK Libby McEnhill, University of Huddersfield, UK Kevin Morrell, University of Warwick, UK Nicholas O'Shaughnessy, Queen Mary, University of London, UK Christopher Reid, Queen Mary, University of London, UK Katherine L. SmithUniversity of Manchester, UK Richard Toye, University of Exeter, UK

Introduction: Rhetoric and the British Way of Politics; Alan Finlayson and James Martin PART I - POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP 1. The Rhetoric of Rhetoric; Nicholas O'Shaughnessy 2. Rhetorical Technique Aphorisms and Political Persuasion; Robin Burrow and Kevin Morrell 3. Rhetoric and Parliamentary Leadership - Prime Minister's Questions; Christopher Reid 4. Rhetoric and Political Intervention - Churchill's World War Two Speeches in Context; Richard Toye SECTION TWO - IDEOLOGY AND POLICY 5. Rhetoric and Party Politics - Looking Beyond the Leader; Katharine Dommett 6. Rhetoric and the Regions - Time and Space in Welsh Labour Rhetoric on Devolution; David S. Moon 7. Rhetoric and Morality - How the Coalition Justifies Welfare Policy; Richard Hayton and Libby McEnhill SECTION THREE - CULTURE AND SOCIETY 8. Rhetoric and Multiculturalism - David Cameron's 'King James' Speech and the Crisis of Multiculturalism; Bridget Byrne 9. Rhetoric and Race - David Starkey and the 2011 English Riots; Neil Foxlee 10. Rhetoric and Satire - Spitting Image and Political Comedy; Andrew S. Crines 11. Rhetoric and the Everyday - Fairness as Rhetorical Force and the Micro-Politics of Intentionality in a North Manchester Town; Katherine Smith Conclusion: Rhetoric, British Identity and Interdisciplinarity; Judi Atkins and Nick Turnbull