Rhetorical Citizenship: Studying the Discursive Crafting and Enactment of Citizenship

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This article argues for the relevance of a rhetorical approach to the study of citizenship. We show how this view aligns with current views of the multidimensionality of citizenship, explain our use of the term rhetoric, and illustrate the usefulness of a rhetorical approach in two examples. In close textual readings both examples – one vernacular, one elite – are shown to discursively craft and enact different notions of citizenship via-a-vis the European refugee crisis. We conclude that a rhetorical perspective on public civic discourse is useful in virtue of its close attention to discursive creativity as well as to textual properties that may significantly, but often implicitly, affect citizens’ understanding of their own role in the polity, and further because it recognizes deep differences as inevitable while valorizing discourse across them.
Original languageEnglish
JournalCitizenship Studies
Volume21
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)570-587
Number of pages18
ISSN1362-1025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Jun 2017

    Research areas

  • Faculty of Humanities - Rhetorical citizenship, Lars Løkke Rasmssen, PeopleReachingOut, Refugees

ID: 169359245