Crisis of Rhetoric - University of Birmingham

Renewing Political Speech and Speechwriting: An AHRC Network

Robust public debate and the freedom to make arguments and counterarguments are essential features for democracy. But political speech in the UK is in crisis: the public distrust and disbelieve politicians, experts and other political actors; political debate has become more sectarian and angry; facts are often misused or ignored; political discussion is often inward looking and the public left uninformed and unpersuaded.

The Crisis of Rhetoric research network starts from the premise that this is a crisis of oratory and rhetoric, and that addressing it requires better understanding – on the part of academics, practitioners and the public – of the theory, history, use and reception of rhetoric in modern British politics and society. It will unite two discipline-specific networks: the Political Studies Association group Rhetoric and Politics and the Classics-based Network for Oratory and Politics (NOP). The Crisis of Rhetoric network will connect with non-academic partners such as politicians, speechwriters and political journalists, and expand into other academic disciplines. Together, we will address the theoretical, analytical and practical problems of political speech and develop recommendations on how to revivify a culture of reasoned and passionate public debate.

The network has three sets of objectives: network objectives, intellectual objectives and impact objectives:

People

Dr Henriette van der Blom, PI of Crisis of Rhetoric, Director of the Network for Oratory and Politics, and Lecturer in Ancient History (University of Birmingham).
Professor Alan Finlayson, Co-I of Crisis of Rhetoric, founder and treasurer of the Political Studies Association specialist group on ‘Rhetoric and Politics’, and Professor of Political and Social Theory (University of East Anglia).
Dr Sophia Hatzisavvidou, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Languages & International Studies (University of Bath).
Professor James Martin, Professor of Politics (Goldsmiths, University of London).
Professor Gesine Manuwald, Professor of Latin (University College London).
Dr David Moon, Senior Lecturer in Politics (University of Bath).
Professor Christopher Reid, Professor of Rhetoric (Queen Mary, University of London).
Dr Ernest Schonfield, Lecturer in German (University of Glasgow).
Professor Richard Toye, Professor of History (University of Exeter).

User group

The Rt. Hon. Charles Clarke, Home Secretary 2004-2006.
Mr Rodger Evans, civil servant speechwriter in the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Brian Jenner founder and director of the UK Speechwriters’ Guild and the European Speechwriters’ Network, and a professional speechwriter.

Collaborators

Dr Joe Bennett, Lecturer in Applied Linguistics (University of Birmingham).
Professor Deborah Cameron, Rupert Murdoch Professor in Language and Communication (University of Oxford).
Professor Stephen Coleman, Professor of Political Communication (University of Leeds).
Professor Rita Copeland, Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Classical Studies, English, and Comparative Literature (University of Pennsylvania, US).
Professor Karl-J. Hölkeskamp, Professor of Ancient History (University of Cologne, Germany).
Professor Jens Kjeldsen, Professor of Rhetoric and Visual Communication (University of Bergen, Norway).
Professor Christian Kock, Professor of Rhetoric (University of Copenhagen).
Dr Maria Kyriakidou, Senior Lecturer at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (University of Cardiff).
Dr Jon Lawrence, Professor of Modern British History (University of Exeter).
Professor Graham Smith, Professor of Politics and Academic Director at the Centre for the Study of Democracy (University of Westminster).

Network objectives

The network aims to develop common ground and a shared vocabulary uniting rhetoric researchers from varied disciplines working on different historical periods; to consolidate rhetoric research in the UK enabling the creation of a more widely recognised field of study; to promote UK rhetoric research within the international research community especially in Europe and the US; to connect the community of rhetoric scholars in the UK with rhetorical practitioners in politics, government and speechwriting; to lay the basis for future research collaboration and outputs.

Intellectual objectives

The network also aims to develop knowledge of the challenges and difficulties faced by political speakers and speechwriters in the UK today; to enable the application of rhetorical concepts and methods to the critical study of media rhetoric in British politics, including forms of rhetoric associated with online debate and discourse; to apply ancient and modern rhetorical theory and analysis to the interpretation and assessment of examples of contemporary political speech.

Impact objectives

Finally, the network aims to produce a short report recommending innovative new methods in speechwriting and speechmaking practice and ways for journalists to present political debate; to develop an accessible and engaging public-facing book, which promotes the reception as well as the delivery of political speech.

Events

The Crisis of Rhetoric will host six workshops and one closing event in the Houses of Parliament to deliver on these objectives. The discussion will continue between the workshops and be facilitated by publicly accessible documents on the website.

Workshop 1: The State of Political Speech

13 September 2017

Queen Mary, University of London

This first workshop concerns the perspective of practitioners. We will invite current and former politicians and speechwriters, civil servants and journalists to form a user group and to explain how they think about and experience political speech and argument, what they think makes a great (or awful) speech, the training they have had to become speechmakers and speechwriters, and the criteria they apply when assessing rhetoric. We will discuss how they perceive the crisis of rhetoric and what their remedy would be. This workshop will inform the content of the subsequent events. Speakers will be invited to reflect a range of institutions, ages, parties and backgrounds.

Workshop 2: Concepts

December 2017

University of Birmingham

The aim of this workshop is to strengthen our understanding of each other’s disciplinary approach while also reflecting on workshop 1 and the current crisis of political speech. Questions that will guide presentations and discussion are: What can the present learn from classical theories and practices of Rhetoric? What is the relationship between linguistic and rhetorical analysis? How has political theory conceived of debate, deliberation and argumentation and what is the place of rhetoric in these?

Speakers: Alan Finlayson (Co-I); Deborah Cameron (Rupert Murdoch Professor in Language and Communication, Oxford University); Joe Bennett (Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, Univ. of Birmingham).

Workshop 3: Ethos and Identification

March 2018

University of Glasgow

A fundamental theme of rhetorical theory, ancient and modern, is ethos. Contemporary rhetoric sometimes conceives of this as establishing 'identification' between speaker and audience or as an ‘invitation’ issued by speakers for audiences to assume a particular identity. The crisis of rhetoric includes the inability on the part of politicians to establish such an ethos or a refusal of audiences to accept an invitation. Key questions include: How do different disciplines conceptualise ethos? How do political orators across historical periods create and maintain a credible public persona to promote themselves and their political agendas? How is rhetoric used today to create identities and shared values with audiences?

Speakers: Henriette van der Blom (PI); Karl-J. Hölkeskamp (Professor of Ancient History, University of Cologne, Germany); John Gaffney (Professor of Politics & Co-Director, Aston Centre for Europe Research Director, Politics and International Relations); Sophia Hatzisavvidou (Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath).

Workshop 4: Reasons and Reasoning

July 2018

University of Birmingham

Rhetoric involves forms of reasoning suited to the fraught, confusing and uncertain contexts of public life. A challenge is to ensure that such reasoning is not too unreasonable or unresponsive to facts. This workshop will look at theories of reason associated with rhetoric and their relationship to appeals rooted in emotion and figurative expression. Key questions will include: How can we understand the relationship between emotional and logical arguments in contemporary speech? Do politicians rely on certain kinds of logical and factual argument? Are arguments from emotion and values becoming more prominent? How can ‘good’ reasons be better promoted to the public?

Speakers: Rita Copeland (Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Classical Studies, English, and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, US); Christian Kock (Professor of Rhetoric, University of Copenhagen); Nick Turnbull (Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester).

Workshop 5: Media Rhetoric

September 2018

University of East Anglia

Today rhetoric is mediated. It is reformulated to fit the formats in and through which it is relayed to mass audiences, including online platforms, which are changing the culture of political debate. Key questions for this workshop include: How do audiences react to and engage with televised election or referendum debates? How do media formats - such as BBC Question Time - shape and reshape debate styles? How do new political groups use online media to disrupt and challenge conventional political argument?

Speakers: Emily Harmer (Lecturer in Media, in the Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool), Jens E. Kjeldsen (Professor of Rhetoric and Visual Communication at the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen (Norway)), and Alan Finlayson (Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East Anglia).

Workshop 6: Changing the State of Political Speech

3 April 2019

University College London

In this final workshop, we will invite back the practitioners who came to the first workshop. This time, the lead speakers will be academics who will present their thoughts and findings and receive feedback from the practitioners (informing impact outputs).

Launch event: The Crisis of Rhetoric: Renewing Political Speech and Speechwriting

15 October 2019

Houses of Parliament, London

Workshops

The Crisis of Rhetoric will host six workshops and one closing event in the Houses of Parliament to deliver on these objectives. Workshops 1 and 6 will involve political practitioners directly in order to inform the discussions in Workshops 2-5. In Workshops 2-5, three lead participants will deliver a short ‘briefing’ explaining the contribution of their field to the topic, followed by discussion in smaller mixed-disciplinary groups. The discussion will continue between the workshops and be facilitated by publicly accessible documents on the website.

University of Birmingham, University of East Anglia, Political Studies Association and NOP logos