Testimony as Political Argument

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 72-92
Author(s):  
Mátyás Szalay
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Scientific Language ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Illegal Migrants ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
It Support ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The One

On the one hand, when compared with the ‘original meaning’ of politics in the Classical or Christian thought, contemporary liberal democracies in general understand politics in a reduced sense. On the other hand, however, democratic debates constantly allow for opening new horizons of interpreting politics. One way to radically renew politics is accepting authentic testimonies as political arguments. To illustrate this point, I offer the reflective analysis of a concrete case concerning the hotly debated topic of migrants in Europe: a Benedictine monastery receives and hosts illegal migrants in Hungary. This example deserves our interest for – when not tendentiously misinterpreted – it can neither be classified as an argument of the conservative approach to migrants nor does it support the liberal reading of the events. It implies, at the same time, a positive and a negative critique to both approaches by simply going beyond the usual political categories. In order to see how testimony works as a political argument I undertake three steps: 1) Instead of defining testimony, I show through a phenomenological analysis three characteristics of the given example that are both, essential and relevant for political discourse: a) the essentially indeterminate meaning of testimony; b) self-exposure and self-sacrifice; c) the particular political message of authentic testimony. In the next step, I offer a brief analysis of contemporary political discourse to highlight those aspects concerning which authentic testimonies may transform the meaning of politics: a) mediatization; b) lack of authenticity and credibility; c) technical scientific language; d) impersonal approach to political issues. As a third step, I unite these two analysis by asking what counts as a political argument in general and whether and how testimonies can function as political arguments. In my conclusion, I distinguish two types of politics according to their attitude towards testimony: one that is open to authentic testimonies and one that rejects them. By showing some fatal consequences of the latter option I argue for recovering some of politics’ original meaning.

Vorlesung und Hörsaal als Symptomwörter für Geschichte und Gegenwart der deutschen Sprache

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-595
Author(s):  
Wolf Peter Klein
Keyword(s):  
Academic Language ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Lecture Hall ◽  
Scientific Language ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Epochal Change ◽  
History Of ◽  
German Standard ◽  
The One

Abstract The article starts with the etymology of the words Vorlesung („lecture“) and Hörsaal (“lecture hall”). On the one hand, it turns out that the two expressions are deeply anchored in the history of the old Latin scientific language. They transmit Latin structures and perspectives in German neologisms. On the other hand, the two words arose exactly at the time when the sciences were moving from Latin to German, thus distancing themselves from the traditional forms of Latin scholarship. In this light, they exemplify an epochal change in the history of the German language, but at the same time they represent a great European continuity. Against this background, the two words can be interpreted as symptomatic words associated with the Enlightenment’s confident outlook on the future relationship between science and society. Further corpus linguistic surveys also show how productively the two words appear in word formation processes. In particular, these surveys show by way of example that and how German standard language has benefited from the emergence of German academic language.

"You Can't Just Say That the Only Ones Who Can Speak Are Those Who Agree with Your Position": Political Discourse in the Classroom

1993 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Fine
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Social Differences ◽  
Classroom Dynamics ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
School Classroom ◽  
Teachers And Students

In this article, Melinda Fine describes the classroom dynamics surrounding the discussion of controversial issues in a middle school classroom. Through observation and interviews, she creates a detailed portrait of the interactions among teachers and students, revealing that while discussions of emotionally charged social and political issues are often heated and difficult, they can still be constructive. Fine maintains that students are more resilient and able to handle disagreement than is often believed. She concludes by arguing that education in a democracy requires that teachers and students learn to deal constructively with political and social differences.

scholarly journals Web Atlas como Herramienta para la Gestión Integrada Costera: de los Datos al Conocimiento Práctico

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (Vol Esp. 2) ◽  
pp. 427-454
Author(s):  
Sílvia Maria Sartor ◽  
Marcos Reis Rosa ◽  
Juliana Tristão Pires ◽  
Claudio Augusto Oller Nascimento
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Scientific Language ◽  
The Public ◽  
Paulo State ◽  
Impact Indicators ◽  
Coastal Area Management ◽  
The One ◽  
Multiple Impact ◽  
Existing Data

Despite the importance of coastal areas to sustainable development, they are poorly known by the public or even by decision-makers. This undermines consistent action towards their protection. Existing data and information, published in very complex language, tend to be restricted to academic use. The Coastal Web Atlas as the one developed here is a tool that makes this information more accessible to managers, by preserving, integrating, comparing, and sharing data as smart maps. The spatial analysis based on multiple impact indicators facilitates the correlation of causes and effects. The Coastal Web Atlas is available to a broad audience and it could be a strong instrument for spatial planning and oversight. The authors propose to improve coastal area management by using colors on maps to decode scientific language to friendly language and to publish it on a geoportal. This technology promotes the use of collected data and enables collaborative work. A pilot experiment is being developed in the Santos Port Region, at the São Paulo state coast, Brazil: http://santoswebatlas.com.br/

scholarly journals Women and Ijtihad: Towards a New Islamic Discourse

2019 ◽  
pp. 12-33
Author(s):  
Heba Raouf Ezzat
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Women's Issues ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Contested Terrain ◽  
The One

A phenomenon of extreme polarization between the Islamist and the secular camps characterizes the intellectual scene regarding social, economic, and political issues in the Arab-Islamic world. This is especially true with respect to women’s issues, which are a very hotly contested terrain. Understanding this reality clearly requires a historic overview to comprehend how this polarization occurred and map the debate between supporters of “modernity and contemporality” (al-hadatha wa-l-mu‘asara) on the one hand, and supporters of “tradition and authenticity” (al-turath wal-asala) on the other. Though this is not at the heart of our research, framing it in its historical context enables us to better understand the roots and origins of the problem, in order to map the debates and foresee future courses more clearly.

Political Identity, Democratic Empowerment, and Political Learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Niels Noergaard Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
Political Identity ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Learning ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Political Turmoil

The political commotion of the world is rising anew. Political challenges and political turmoil unfold side by side, and at the fore of many current political struggles stands the notion of “political identity.” Identity is a key asset in citizens' orientations toward political issues, their selection of information, and not least their political participation at large. The character of political challenges and struggles suggests that we need a revitalized and more comprehensive conceptual framework and operationalization of political identity. Political identity plays a role in most political activity, and the authors engage in elaborating the concept. The discussion presents the notion of political learning in order to bridge the complex and vigorous relations between on the one side political orientations and awareness and on the other side current manifestations of democratic political identities.

The EU after Brexit

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-109
Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fiscal Federalism ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
The One ◽  
Unanimous Approval ◽  
Amendment Procedure ◽  
The Eu

This chapter focuses on the European Union after Brexit and articulates the case for constitutional reforms. Reforms are necessary to address the substantive and institutional shortcomings that patently emerged in the context of Europe’s old and new crises. Moreover, reforms will be compelled by the exigencies of the post-Covid-19 EU recovery, which pushes the EU towards new horizons in terms of fiscal federalism and democratic governance. As a result, the chapter considers both obstacles and opportunities to reform the EU and make it more effective and legitimate. On the one hand, it underlines the difficulties connected to the EU treaty amendment procedure, owing to the requirement of unanimous approval of any treaty change, and the consequential problem of the veto. On the other hand, it emphasizes the increasing practice by Member States to use intergovernmental agreements outside the EU legal order and stresses that these have set new rules on their entry into force which overcome state veto, suggesting that this is now a precedent to consider.

scholarly journals Rhetoric, discourse and the hermeneutics of public speech

Politics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 026339572093377
Author(s):  
James Martin
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Temporal Dimension ◽  
Public Speech ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

What insights and advantages do rhetorical approaches offer over other methods of exploring social and political discourse? This article aims to clarify the contribution of rhetorical analysis by exploring its distinctive, hermeneutic attention to public speech. Public speaking is, accordingly, viewed as a practice of assembling meaningful interpretations in specific situations. Central here is a temporal dimension. Analysing rhetoric involves grasping discourse, on the one hand, as concretely situated in response to proximate constraints and, on the other hand, as a medium to move beyond the situation towards a future. Following John Caputo’s reading of Derrida, I argue that, examined rhetorically, public speech enacts a ‘negotiation’ of past and future, intertwining conditional – and hence partially calculable – positions with an ‘unconditional promise’ to prepare for what comes. Although compatible with other approaches, rhetorical analysis is uniquely attuned to this intrinsically ethical and political quality of discursive action.

Exploring the “Liberal Paradox” from the Inside: Evidence from the Swedish Migration Courts

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 1162-1185
Author(s):  
Livia Johannesson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Immigration Policies ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Liberal Paradox ◽  
Do So

Courts are influential actors during the implementation of immigration policies in liberal democracies. The “liberal paradox” thesis stipulates that courts are driven by logics that hamper restrictionist immigration policies. This study contributes to this theory by exploring the norm construction of impartiality among judicial workers in Swedish migration courts when deciding asylum appeals. Its findings contradict the liberal paradox assumption that courts act according to inner logics that benefit immigrants’ rights. At Sweden’s migration courts, judicial workers show impartiality by using a skeptical approach to asylum applicants and do so to distance themselves from the political discourse of generosity that has dominated Swedish political debate for decades. The broader implications of these findings are that immigration policy theories can benefit from qualitative research exploring informal norm constructions in courts, as such work can offer new insights about the role of courts in the implementation of immigration policies.

Seven The Ninth Amendment and the Marshall Court

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lash Kurt T
Keyword(s):  
Original Meaning ◽  
Chief Justice ◽  
History Of ◽  
Judicial Opinions ◽  
The One ◽  
Ninth Amendment ◽  
John Marshall

This chapter continues the discussion of the history of the Ninth Amendment and eventually takes it to the one place where no history of it can be found—the judicial opinions of Chief Justice John Marshall. It is argued that different people used the Ninth Amendment in different ways. Some read the amendment as significantly restricting federal power; others insisted that the amendment placed few if any constraints on federal power. But these are differences of degree, not kind. Every court and commentator who took a position on the Ninth Amendment in the initial decades of the Constitution—whether Federalist or Anti-Federalist or Democratic-Republican, nationalist or states' rightist, drafter or ratifier—all described the Ninth as echoing the same federalist principles as the Tenth. Rather than considering the original meaning of the Ninth Amendment, the chapter focuses on what happened to the original meaning of the Ninth Amendment.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Marmodoro ◽  
Irini-Fotini Viltanioti
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The One

This volume explores how some of the most prominent philosophers and theologians of late antiquity conceptualize the idea that the divine is powerful. The period under consideration spans roughly four centuries (from the first to the fifth CE), which are of particular interest because they ‘witness’ the successive development and mutual influence of two major strands in the history of Western thought: Neoplatonism on the one hand, and early Christian thought on the other. Representatives of Neoplatonism considered in this volume are Plotinus (...

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document