tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/rhetoric-8995/articlesRhetoric – The Conversation2023-11-20T19:16:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2179582023-11-20T19:16:45Z2023-11-20T19:16:45ZThe media must stop enabling Trump’s attention-seeking use of fascist rhetoric<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-media-must-stop-enabling-trumps-attention-seeking-use-of-fascist-rhetoric" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Donald Trump is campaigning for the presidency of the United States the same way that Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy campaigned almost 100 years ago.</p>
<p>Trump recently travelled to New Hampshire and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/12/trump-rally-vermin-political-opponents/">delivered a speech</a> that included a pledge to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” </p>
<p>This was just the latest in a long string of Trump’s dehumanizing, <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/10/donald-trump-violent-rhetoric-violence-fear-2024.html">violent rhetoric</a>. </p>
<h2>Rhetoric of fascism</h2>
<p>The use of the word “vermin” was particularly noteworthy. It was the same language that Mussolini used in his <a href="https://bibliotecafascista.blogspot.com/2012/03/speech-of-ascension-may-26-1927.html">1927 Ascension Day speech</a>. </p>
<p>Trump’s recent comment about undocumented immigrants “polluting the blood of our country” is in the same style, as are the ideas emanating from his campaign team <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-plans-to-deport-millions-if-he-is-re-elected-says-report/7351479.html">to deport millions of immigrants</a> and quarantine others in massive camps. This is the rhetoric of fascism, and <a href="https://www.un.org/en/hate-speech/understanding-hate-speech/hate-speech-and-real-harm">it inevitably leads to violence</a>. </p>
<p>Trump’s staff and supporters <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/13/us/politics/trump-vermin-rhetoric-fascists.html">have denied that his rhetoric is fascist</a>. And <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/donald-trump-and-the-media">the media has struggled over how to cover his comments</a>. </p>
<p>Often, journalists will say that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213746885/trump-vermin-hitler-immigration-authoritarian-republican-primary">Trump is “echoing”</a> fascist talking points. Echoing means to hear a sound again, and the sound that we hear is a copy of the original. The implication is that the echo is not the real thing, or is somehow an imitation of an original, perhaps slightly weaker.</p>
<p>That leads to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21521958/what-is-fascism-signs-donald-trump">arguments about whether Trump is truly fascist</a>, giving his supporters and staff an opportunity to use pedantic distinctions as an excuse. </p>
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<h2>Repetition is powerful</h2>
<p>The media should not debate whether Trump is an American Hitler. That allows him to leverage the appeal of Hitler among his far-right base, and provides him with fresh allegations about how the media treats him unfairly. The debate itself plays right into his rhetoric and his followers’ grievances. </p>
<p>Instead, the media, historians and political commentators should make clear that Trump is repeating and amplifying fascist rhetoric — and explain why he’s doing so. Trump’s intent is seemingly to grab the public’s attention and ultimately persuade them to believe that certain people in society deserve <a href="https://dangerousspeech.org/dangerous-metaphors-how-dehumanizing-rhetoric-works/">to be dehumanized</a>. </p>
<p>Media reporting and commentary should focus on what repeating a word like “vermin” is meant to achieve, and not whether its use makes Trump the new Mussolini. </p>
<p>When journalists report that Trump is <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/curiosity/blog/conversation-does-trumps-violent-rhetoric-echo-fascist-commitment-destructive-rebirth-society">echoing fascism</a> and engage in the debate over what constitutes fascism, they end up circulating that rhetoric more widely. </p>
<p>Disseminating this rhetoric, even if it’s aimed at pointing out Trump’s unsuitability for re-election, has consequences. It normalizes the use of dehumanizing, objectifying rhetorical tropes. More importantly, it amplifies those tropes, allowing them to reach ever-wider audiences.</p>
<h2>Attention-seeker</h2>
<p>Trump’s rhetorical skill is in <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/donald-trump-the-attention-economy-s-most-potent-stimulus-1.6343440">commanding attention</a>. He knows that repeating fascist phrases will get the media to take notice and will result in the amplification of his message. </p>
<p>Avoiding further amplifying Trump’s fascist messages could go some distance in stopping their circulation, at least through mainstream broadcast outlets. When those news organizations tie Trump to Hitler or Mussolini, they may actually strengthen his appeal with his base, who see him as a stronger leader than he really is. </p>
<p>So how <em>should</em> the media report on Trump’s use of this rhetoric? By making clear he’s repeating fascist phrases in order to dehumanize people and make violence against fellow citizens seem justifiable. That would undermine Trump’s goal of associating himself with Hitler. </p>
<p>Circulating and amplifying Trump’s fascist rhetoric runs the risk of further eroding democracy by normalizing fascist modes of talking about, and thinking about, our political opponents and fellow citizens. </p>
<h2>Threatening democracy</h2>
<p>In a fundamental way, we all learn to <a href="https://nesslabs.com/mimetic-learning">communicate through imitation</a>. Trump wants his followers to imitate his rhetoric so it spreads and becomes a normal feature of our everyday lives. </p>
<p>But democracies cannot survive if it becomes commonplace to talk about our fellow citizens as vermin or infestations or impure. To the extent that the media plays an essential role in the health of democracy, repeating and amplifying fascist rhetoric threatens the very system that makes a free press possible and democratic norms achievable.</p>
<p>Trump has already normalized fascist rhetoric and a disdain for democracy. </p>
<p>The media shouldn’t be unwittingly helping him further advance his fascist goals. Instead of giving his remarks a wider audience, news organizations must plainly point out that Trump uses this language to dehumanize his fellow citizens, create a path to violence and destroy democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Instead of giving Trump’s fascist rhetoric a wider audience, news organizations must simply point out he’s attempting to dehumanize his fellow citizens, create a path to violence and destroy democracy.Robert Danisch, Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2135172023-11-20T13:18:15Z2023-11-20T13:18:15ZThanksgiving stories gloss over the history of US settlement on Native lands<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560223/original/file-20231118-17-87anep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C361%2C2389%2C2070&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Native Americans depicted at the first Thanksgiving feast, in a 1960 film about the Pilgrims’ first year in America.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MoviesEducationalFilms/6e19fb0444d146fdb6f09520e734f7a7/photo?Query=thanksgiving%20dinner%20native%20americans&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=546&currentItemNo=9&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Too often, K-12 social studies classes in the U.S. <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-are-the-voices-of-indigenous-peoples-in-the-thanksgiving-story-51089">teach a mostly glossed-over story of U.S. settlement</a>. Textbooks tell the stories of adventurous European explorers founding colonies in the “New World,” and stories of the “first Thanksgiving” frequently portray happy colonists and Native Americans feasting together. Accounts of the colonies’ battle for independence frame it as a righteous victory. Native American removal might be mentioned as a sad footnote, but the triumph of the pioneer spirit takes center stage. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://english.utk.edu/people/lisa-king/">scholar of Native American and Indigenous rhetorics</a>, I argue that this superficial story hides the realities of what many historians and activists call “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/2201473X.2011.10648799?needAccess=true">settler colonialism</a>.” Historian <a href="https://www.swinburne.edu.au/research/our-research/access-our-research/find-a-researcher-or-supervisor/researcher-profile/?id=lveracini">Lorenzo Veracini</a> asserts that colonial activity isn’t just about a nation sending out explorers and bringing back resources, or what scholars refer to as “classical colonialism.” It’s also about what happens when a new people moves in and attempts to establish itself as the “superior” community whose culture, language and rights to resources and land supersede those of the Indigenous people who already live there. </p>
<p>When U.S. history, culture and politics are understood through the lens of settler colonialism, it’s easier to understand how, as <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/library/about-the-library/special-collections-archives/patrick-wolfe-collection">historian Patrick Wolfe</a> wrote, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240">settler colonizers come to stay: invasion is a structure, not an event</a>.” </p>
<h2>US policies and why they matter</h2>
<p>While settler colonial policies can include genocide, they take many forms. </p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/if-BOZgWZPE?si=Hp8OH6fRYz85pVqG">Deceptive and broken treaties</a> forced Native American nations to give up vast portions of their homelands. For example, in eastern Tennessee, the Treaty of Holston, signed in 1791, was made in theory to help establish clear boundaries between Cherokee and settler communities. </p>
<p>The U.S. government would receive land, and the Cherokee would receive annual payments, goods and the promise of the government’s protection in return. Instead, settlers moved onto Cherokee land and the U.S. government did not intervene. By 1798, the First Treaty of Tellico forced the Cherokee to give up the land the settlers had illegally taken, plus some. Year by year, the Cherokee and other tribes were pushed out.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/if-BOZgWZPE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How the U.S. acquired Native land.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/indian.html#:%7E:text=The%20Indian%20Removal%20Act%20was,many%20resisted%20the%20relocation%20policy.">Forced outright removal</a> beyond treaties further deprived Native American nations of their land and attempted to erase them. Instead of supporting any kind of coexistence, legislation such as the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/indian-treaties">1830 Indian Removal Act</a> called for the complete removal of all tribes east of the Mississippi River. </p>
<p>Though the Cherokee and others fought such legislation in the courtroom, the result was the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/what-happened-on-the-trail-of-tears.htm#:%7E:text=Between%201830%20and%201850%2C%20about,Many%20were%20treated%20brutally.">displacement of 100,000 Native people</a> from the eastern U.S. between 1830-1850 and the deaths of thousands of Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee and Seminole people on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-history-of-separating-families-in-the-us-and-how-the-trauma-lingers-98616">Trail of Tears</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/02/09/583987261/so-what-exactly-is-blood-quantum">Blood quantum systems of identification</a> attempted to make Native American people “disappear” by assigning Native American identity through counting the fractional amount of “Indian blood” and encouraging intermarriage with non-Native people. Once a certain degree of intermarriage was reached, a person was no longer considered Native and was not eligible for tribal enrollment.</p>
<p>As scholar and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation <a href="http://www.elizabethrule.com">Elizabeth Rule</a> notes, many Native nations today have adopted the use of blood quantum as a form of identification, which remains a controversial issue inside and outside Native communities. At the same time, she observes, it is the sovereign right of those nations to make these choices. However, the problem of erasure through this system remains, as blood quantum requirements can deny citizenship to clear lineal descendants and complicate discussions about <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-communities-7-questions-about-freedmen-answered">Freedmen</a>.</p>
<p>Alongside these policies, <a href="https://www.bia.gov/service/federal-indian-boarding-school-initiative">education was used as a tool</a> to eradicate Native American languages and cultures by removing Native children from their families and forbidding them to speak their languages or practice their cultures. As the founder of the first boarding school, <a href="https://carlisleindianschoolproject.com/">Carlisle Indian Industrial School</a>, Richard Henry Pratt is well known for arguing to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” Abuse of students was not uncommon. Many boarding school survivors experienced the trauma of losing connections to their families and cultures, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/native-american-boarding-schools-victims-3f927e5054b6790cef1c6012d8616ad6">a pain that is still felt today</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman protestor, standing with others, holding a sign that says 'This is Native America.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560224/original/file-20231118-31-6mz01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Native Americans and their allies hold a demonstration for Indigenous Peoples Day in 2015, in Seattle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-BOZgWZPE">AP Photo/Elaine Thompson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Twentieth-century U.S. policies of <a href="https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/11/01/uprooted-the-1950s-plan-to-erase-indian-country">relocation and political termination</a> further attempted to absolve the federal government of its treaty responsibilities to Native nations. If the U.S. government could “terminate” tribal nations by disbanding them as nations, then all obligations to tribes would legally disappear and all remaining tribal land would revert to government ownership. </p>
<p>After the passing of House Concurrent Resolution 108 in 1953, more than 100 tribes and 13,000 Native people <a href="https://americanarchive.org/exhibits/native-narratives/termination-relocation-restoration">experienced termination</a>, and more than 1 million acres of land were lost. Further federal policies such as the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 encouraged tribal members to permanently leave reservations and relocate to cities to find work and thus assimilate into U.S. society. </p>
<p>Overall, these policies were not fully carried out, and many tribal nations advocated for their status to be restored. Yet real damage was done to the tribal nations that endured termination, and relocated tribal members faced discrimination and disconnection. </p>
<h2>Reducing harm</h2>
<p>It isn’t possible to simply undo all of these policies and their impact. Yet scholars <a href="https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18630">Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang</a> acknowledge that challenging those policies and reducing their influence, known as settler harm reduction, is a first step toward change. But for change to happen, those who benefit from the settler colonial system – whether original settlers or anyone today who gains advantage from these policies – need to work with Native American nations and communities toward finding active ways to do better. </p>
<p>The starting point is identifying the stories that still circulate in the U.S. about Native Americans and finding ways to <a href="https://rnt.firstnations.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/MessageGuide-Allies-screen.pdf">change settler colonial assumptions</a> that still reinforce Native American erasure. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I believe teaching the <a href="https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/who-were-the-pilgrims/2019/july/the-story-of-thanksgiving-and-the-national-day-of-mourning/">Thanksgiving story</a> alongside the Wampanoag peoples of today is an easy place to start. The past cannot be undone, but it doesn’t have to dictate the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213517/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Michelle King does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of Native American and Indigenous rhetorics writes about the harm done to Native American nations through colonization and what can be done to reduce it.Lisa Michelle King, Associate Professor of English, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158502023-10-18T11:22:53Z2023-10-18T11:22:53ZBiden’s Middle East trip has messages for both global and domestic audiences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554537/original/file-20231018-15-5inc0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=89%2C224%2C5901%2C3763&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Biden meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on arriving in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenIsraelPalestinians/a064192aa42449e697f8a41bd2b318eb/photo?Query=biden%20israel&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1416&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to travel to an active war zone and the scene of an unfolding humanitarian crisis spoke volumes, even before his arrival.</p>
<p>The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/16/statement-from-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-president-bidens-travel-to-israel-and-jordan/">has stated</a> that Biden’s purpose is to “demonstrate his steadfast support for Israel” after Hamas’ “brutal terrorist attack” on Oct. 7, 2023. But Israel wasn’t meant to be his only stop. </p>
<p>The president was also scheduled to travel to Amman, Jordan, to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. However, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-jordan-meeting-arab-leaders-cancelled/">the meeting was canceled</a> with Biden already en route to Israel.</p>
<p>The trip is a bold but risky move, a carefully orchestrated display of Biden’s belief that the United States should take an active leadership role in global affairs. It is a strategy Biden has used before, most notably in his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/02/20/world/russia-ukraine-war#heres-how-bidens-visit-to-kyiv-unfolded">February 2023 surprise visit to Ukraine</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Wrt5_qIAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of U.S. presidential rhetoric and political communication</a>, I have spent the past decade studying how chief executives use their international travels to reach audiences at home and abroad. I see clear parallels between Biden’s trip and similar actions by other presidents to extend American influence on the world stage.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Roosevelt sits in the cab of a large steam shovel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554392/original/file-20231017-29-n9owns.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Theodore Roosevelt, center, is seated on a steam shovel in the Panama Canal Zone during the first trip abroad by a U.S. chief executive, in November 1906.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Roosevelt_and_the_Canal.JPG">New York Times photo archive/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A paramount duty</h2>
<p>Prior to 1906, no U.S. president had ever traveled abroad while in office. A <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700615803/">long-standing tradition</a> held that the U.S. had left the trappings of monarchy behind, and that it was much more appropriate for chief executives to travel domestically, where Americans lived and worked.</p>
<p>President Theodore Roosevelt, who had an expansive view of presidential power, bemoaned what he called <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/off-for-the-ditch">this “ironclad custom</a>” and ultimately bucked it. In November 1906, Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal Zone and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tr-panama/">posed at the controls of a giant steam shovel</a> to shore up public support for constructing the canal. Beyond pushing this megaproject forward, the trip enabled Roosevelt to see and be seen on the international stage.</p>
<p>Other presidents followed suit as the U.S. began to take a more active role in global affairs. Just before Woodrow Wilson departed for the 1919 Paris Peace Conference at Versailles, where world leaders convened to set the terms for peace after World War I, <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sixth-annual-message-6">he stated in his annual message to Congress</a> that it was his “paramount duty to go” and participate in negotiations that were of “transcendent importance both to us and to the rest of the world.” </p>
<p>During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt embraced this idea of bearing a moral responsibility to speak to, and for, both U.S. citizens and a global audience. Images of FDR seated between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin at <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/96522736/">Tehran</a> and <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a10098/">Yalta</a> symbolized global leadership – a robust vision that endured after the U.S. president’s untimely death.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three world leaders seated side on the porch of a building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554402/original/file-20231017-23-wzhcci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soviet leader Josef Stalin, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the portico of the Russian Embassy in Tehran, Iran, during their conference, Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1943.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a33351/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Embodying US foreign policy</h2>
<p>Going global quickly became <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo186006093.html">a deliberate rhetorical strategy during the Cold War</a>, as presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan used trips abroad to symbolize American commitment to important places and regions. By choosing to visit certain destinations, presidents made clear that these places were important to the U.S. </p>
<p>This is exactly what Biden no doubt hopes to accomplish through his visit to Israel. When he <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/10/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-terrorist-attacks-in-israel-2/">condemned the Hamas attack on Israel</a> as “an act of sheer evil,” he also declared: “We stand with Israel.” Traveling to an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-travel-israel-wednesday-war-hamas-rcna120729">active war zone</a> embodies this pledge far more clearly than words alone.</p>
<p>And this is how Israelis have interpreted the visit. Tzachi Hanegbi, the leader of Israel’s National Security Council, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/17/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza/#link-CDUZASQRRFDMZBBPHUASW47B4I">described the visit</a> as “a bear hug, a large rapid bear hug to the Israelis in the south, to all Israelis, and to every Jew.”</p>
<h2>Addressing both sides</h2>
<p>But Biden must also acknowledge the very real plight of Palestinians who are trapped <a href="https://theconversation.com/decades-of-underfunding-blockade-have-weakened-gazas-health-system-the-siege-has-pushed-it-into-abject-crisis-215679">in dire conditions</a> in Gaza as Israel prepares for a ground invasion. This is no doubt the reason his team sought a face-to-face meeting with Abbas. </p>
<p>I expect that Biden will demonstrate U.S. support for Israel while also drawing a clear distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people. And Biden will likely draw on his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/09/20/remarks-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-of-israel-before-bilateral-meeting-new-york-ny/">friendship of many years</a> with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge moderation in Israel’s military response.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wXhf2aYzGbw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">President Joe Biden’s trip will embody U.S. commitment to Israel while giving the president an opportunity to moderate its actions.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The home audience</h2>
<p>Biden’s trip also has important meaning for U.S. electoral politics. A former <a href="https://wsp.wharton.upenn.edu/book_author/joe-biden/">chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee</a>, Biden has long maintained that the U.S. must take an active role in the world. In the 2020 presidential campaign, he argued that Donald Trump’s policy of “America First” had <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/11/10/933556440/biden-tells-world-leaders-its-not-america-alone-anymore">left “America alone</a>” by undercutting relationships with critical U.S. allies.</p>
<p>For Jewish voters, the president’s visit offers tangible evidence of an enduring U.S. commitment to Israel, especially after some far-left Democratic lawmakers <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/10/11/squad-democrats-israel-hamas-tensions">refused to criticize</a> the Hamas attack. And Biden’s willingness to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/10/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-terrorist-attacks-in-israel-2/">condemn Hamas</a> as a “terrorist organization” may also speak to Republican voters, who are <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/partisan-gap-support-israel-seems-permanent">much more likely</a> to back Israel. </p>
<p>Defining an appropriate role for the U.S. in world affairs is certain to be an important issue in the 2024 presidential election, especially with active conflicts in Ukraine and now in the Middle East. Biden has consistently called for U.S. engagement abroad – not only in words, but by showing up in places like Kiev and Tel Aviv.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison M. Prasch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Until 1906, no US president had ever traveled abroad in office. Then Teddy Roosevelt demonstrated the power of showing up.Allison M. Prasch, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Politics and Culture, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2109452023-08-02T21:40:38Z2023-08-02T21:40:38ZDonald Trump’s victim rhetoric will boost his popularity following latest indictment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540886/original/file-20230802-18-xttfu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5932%2C3951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is displayed in the background, former president Donald Trump stands while a song, Justice for All, is played during a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, in March 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/donald-trumps-victim-rhetoric-will-boost-his-popularity-following-latest-indictments" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In the wake of Donald Trump’s indictment on his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the United States, it’s worth remembering that democracy, as a system of government and a way of life, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/democracies-age">is the exception historically</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140145436">Peaceful transfers of power between different political parties</a>, or even ruling families or authoritarian regimes, are also exceptional. </p>
<p>Trump’s rhetoric and communication tactics in his refusal to admit defeat and follow American legal and cultural norms are tools in an ongoing attempt <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-should-be-preparing-for-the-end-of-american-democracy-176930">to end the American democratic experiment</a>. His indictments and his forthcoming trials may be another such step. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/10/donald-trump-january-7-constitution/671749/">The former president’s objective is to destroy American democracy for his own benefit</a>. Why, then, do his supporters remain so committed to him? And why does he have a significant chance to be re-elected?</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-most-serious-trump-indictment-yet-a-criminal-law-scholar-explains-the-charges-of-using-dishonesty-fraud-and-deceit-to-cling-to-power-210600">The most serious Trump indictment yet – a criminal law scholar explains the charges of using ‘dishonesty, fraud and deceit’ to cling to power</a>
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<h2>Support to increase?</h2>
<p>Trump’s hold on a specific portion of the American population will likely grow stronger with these indictments and trials — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/briefing/donald-trump-polls-florida-coral.html?searchResultPosition=1">the most recent polling seems to confirm this likelihood</a>. </p>
<p>Why? </p>
<p>Two reasons: His legal woes will nourish and strengthen his rhetorical style, and his followers will continue to be persuaded by how he makes them feel, not by reason, facts or critical thought.</p>
<p>Trump has long known that <a href="https://medium.com/amateur-book-reviews/12-takeaways-from-pre-suasion-for-salespeople-b4698b2963ee">attention means persuasion</a>. He has struggled since leaving office, especially after he initially lost his Twitter account, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/what-ever-happened-donald-trump/618597/">to command the attention of the news media</a>. </p>
<p>That will no longer be the case. These trials will be a spectacle and Trump will be at centre stage. That stage will <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/%7Each2174/projects/5003midterm/index.html#:%7E:text=Repetition%20is%20a%20persuasive%20technique,even%20if%20they%20aren't.">allow him to repeat</a>, over and over again, his central campaign messages — the 2020 election was stolen, some Americans are being treated unfairly, he is the only genius who can make America great again. </p>
<p>The combination of attention and repetition is a dynamic and effective mechanism for political persuasion, and so the indictments and trials will fuel Trump’s re-election campaign. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blond man sits glowering in a courtroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540878/original/file-20230802-25-72v9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Donald Trump sits at the defence table with his defence team in a Manhattan courtroom in April in New York charged with falsifying business records in a hush money investigation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Heroes and villains</h2>
<p>Trump also communicates in overly simplistic and puerile narratives, constantly using <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/character-attack/">ad hominem</a> attacks, to map a world in which there are heroes and villains and dramatic tensions between so-called forces of good and forces of evil. </p>
<p>Special Counsel Jack Smith is now a new villain to be contrasted with Trump’s self-inflated “heroism.” This fresh chapter in Trump’s invented <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/10/why-your-brain-loves-good-storytelling">narrative conflict will stoke the emotions</a> of his followers, return them to the affective sense that they continue to be treated unfairly, and, therefore, accelerate the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12420">stewing resentment</a> that has always been at the heart of Trump’s attempts at political persuasion. </p>
<p>The narrative of Trump — and his followers — that he’s the victim of a corrupt liberal elite will be reinvigorated. Of course, that narrative also drives media attention, and we will all be sucked into the competing narratives around the trial. Those narratives will be more important politically than any legal arguments.</p>
<p>Perhaps the sadder truth is that Trump’s base will likely become more fervent believers. The attachment to Trump has always been emotional, a leveraging of deep-seated feelings of anger, disgust and fear of a changing world. </p>
<p>These emotions create the condition for <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/16/13426448/trump-psychology-fact-checking-lies">confirmation bias</a>, whereby Trump’s supporters will likely adhere more strongly to the narrative he tells despite the evidence in front of them. Many people have compared this kind of thinking to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/31/the-messianic-trump-cult-00054382">what happens in cults</a> or religious sects — <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/">faith in Trump blinds reason</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dark-haired bearded man in a dark suit at a news conference." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540879/original/file-20230802-25-63j2hm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Special Counsel Jack Smith speaks about Trump’s indictment at a Department of Justice office in Washington. Trump has cast Smith as a villain to his base.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What lies ahead</h2>
<p>Trump’s ongoing legal proceedings will probably strengthen the faith of the believers; the facts will be twisted for that end. It’s unlikely that <a href="https://www.inc.com/james-sudakow/why-you-will-fail-to-persuade-people-90-of-the-time-if-you-only-use-logic.html">detailed, careful legal arguments will speak to or persuade</a> Trump’s base. We have already seen Trump’s willingness to leverage this faith for violent ends. We should expect more of that.</p>
<p>America remains a country obsessed with Trump. His rhetoric fuels this obsession. Democracy, as it is lived and when it is practised well, can be boring and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/social-media-harm-facebook-meta-response/670975/">unfit for a media age</a> with its sober forms of deliberation, compromise and slow problem-solving.</p>
<p>This gets us to the core of what will be on trial. Democratic institutions and systems were designed to improve collective decision-making. They were also aimed at allowing citizens to live peacefully together without resorting to violence as the means for co-ordinating action. </p>
<p>Smith, and many members of the Democratic party, likely believe in the legal institutions within which these trials will unfold because they are spaces for non-violent, rational deliberation. Trump wants no part of such spaces and his followers don’t trust them. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1684683958481485825"}"></div></p>
<h2>The allure of rhetoric</h2>
<p>Trump’s rhetoric is not reasonable; it instead inflames passions and emotions for the purposes of violence. Tribalism, the cult of personality, fervour and hyperbole are intentional components of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/09/23/trump-america-authoritarianism-420681">authoritarian rhetoric</a>. </p>
<p>The trouble lies with how compelling and seductive authoritarian rhetoric can be. It’s been a common tool over the course of human history; rhetoric has precipitated violence and citizens often succumb to its allure.</p>
<p>The guardrails of democracy are supposed to sideline such dangerous rhetoric, but they cannot outlaw it outright because such restrictions on free speech would ironically be anti-democratic. Trump’s indictments and trials will simply bring that rhetoric into the spotlight once more. </p>
<p>This time around, American democracy, <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/2022/from-democratic-decline-to-authoritarian-aggression">like other examples from the past</a>, might not survive that rhetoric.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210945/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Donald Trump’s legal woes will nourish and strengthen his rhetorical style, and his followers will continue to be persuaded by how he makes them feel, not by reason, facts or critical thought.Robert Danisch, Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2089042023-07-01T01:21:32Z2023-07-01T01:21:32ZThe stabbing attack at the University of Waterloo underscores the dangers of polarizing rhetoric about gender<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535109/original/file-20230630-29-33j7ki.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C163%2C4904%2C3145&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Police tape on a door following a stabbing at the University of Waterloo on June 28,. Waterloo Regional Police said three victims were stabbed inside the university's Hagey Hall, and the suspected attacker was arrested. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/tr/news/crime/2023/06/29/update-suspect-in-university-of-waterloo-stabbing-identified.html">recent stabbing attack</a> on a University of Waterloo professor and two students in a philosophy of gender course, we need to talk about the profound power words have to shape our world. </p>
<p>We are both professors at the University of Waterloo who focus on various aspects of gender and language in our research and teaching.</p>
<p>In her book, <em><a href="https://brooklynrail.org/2019/03/books/Rebecca-Solnits-Call-Them-By-Their-True-Names">Call Them By Their True Names</a></em>, journalist and author Rebecca Solnit argues that we are presently in a crisis of language where words have lost their meaning in a sea of misinformation and inflamed debates. Her response is that we all must be careful and precise with the words we use in order to “oppose the disintegration of meaning.” </p>
<p>In this spirit we will be very precise in our language here: the continued patterns of violence both online and offline against women, racialized, disabled, queer and gender nonconforming people are forms of <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stochastic-terrorism">stochastic terrorism</a> and need to be named as such. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a police officer seen from the back stands in a public square." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535107/original/file-20230630-25-vcarj7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A police officer looks on during a vigil at the University of Waterloo on June 29.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>What is stochastic terrorism</h2>
<p>At its core, stochastic terrorism is public demonization of a group which incites random violence against that group. Crucial here are the words <em>public</em>, <em>demonization</em> and <em>violence</em>. They work together to silence people either by threat of violence or through violence itself. </p>
<p>When a group of people are publicly and repeatedly demonized, they are dehumanized for the benefit of others. This demonization and distancing is crucial for inciting violence. It makes violence toward certain people, or those expressing certain ideas, more palatable. It distances those enacting the violence from the true horrors of their actions. </p>
<p>When it comes to gender-based violence <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/07/cursed-from-circe-to-clinton-why-women-are-cast-as-witches">such demonization is hardly new</a>. It was used to target women and others who did not conform to religious dogma in medieval and early modern witch trials. </p>
<p>More recently, the demonization of women has been a staple of so-called incel doctrines that have informed other acts of violence including the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43892189">Isla Vista shootings in 2014</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/13/toronto-van-murders-court-victim-2018-attack">Toronto van attack</a> in 2018.</p>
<p>Social media is awash with influencers like <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-misogyny-the-new-way-andrew-tate-brought-us-the-same-old-hate-191928">Andrew Tate</a> who spread misogynistic rhetoric to millions. All this combines to create a situation where gender-based violence becomes more likely.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-incel-community-has-a-sexism-problem-but-we-can-do-something-about-it-207206">Yes, the incel community has a sexism problem, but we can do something about it</a>
</strong>
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<h2>Spreading hate has real consequences</h2>
<p>This hatred is spread through public conversations, often on <a href="https://theconversation.com/close-to-home-the-canadian-far-right-covid-19-and-social-media-178714">social media platforms</a> that do not adequately regulate hate speech or protect the most vulnerable recipients of that hate speech. </p>
<p>When such ideas spread rapidly and easily in online spaces without consequence it allows them to multiply and gain validation. This combination of widespread, normalized, publicly accessible hatred and dehumanization is central to the forms of violence we see erupting across spaces currently, including in our spaces of learning. </p>
<p>As women scholars who came of age in the shadow of the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/polytechnique-tragedy">École Polytechnique massacre</a>, we are well aware of how gender-based violence makes a lasting impact on how we experience and move in the world. The murder of 14 women by a gunman motivated by a hatred of feminists sent a very direct message to Canadian girls and women who witnessed the horror and its aftermath. </p>
<p>At a time when both of us were planning out our post-secondary studies, the message we heard was: you are not welcome in spaces of learning and the threat of violence will always be present. For us and others of our generation, this formative experience served as a basis for many of our feminisms. </p>
<p>This week, the immediate thoughts and feelings we experienced after the violent attack on members of our university community were all too familiar. They reminded us again that the threat of violence for daring to stand in a classroom and speak is ever-present. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people hold each other and stand outside a building/" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535108/original/file-20230630-14361-sf1osb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People gather in the Arts Quad for a vigil at the University of Waterloo campus on June 29, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>University classrooms can be transformative</h2>
<p>Being precise with language allows us to also name what could be. In her 1993 Nobel Lecture, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1993/morrison/lecture/">American novelist Toni Morrison</a> defined language as something that delimits the possibilities of our world. Language can oppress and do violence. However, when it is used collaboratively in good faith, it becomes a way to open us all to a better world. </p>
<p>Universities embody this double-edge. They can be sites of <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2021/post-secondary-institutions-must-rethink-approach-to-gender-based-violence/">violence and silencing that has shaped us in profound ways</a>. They are also sites of risk in choosing to speak at all, in sharing ideas that are new and untested, and in the sense that by inviting new perspectives we risk our well-worn certainties and challenge our fundamental assumptions. </p>
<p>But that is how places of learning become sites of transformation and liberation. This specifically is what we want for our students, now and in the future. The risk is present, but so too is the promise of change. And so we will continue to teach and share insights on issues of gender within our classrooms because the sharing of knowledge is what universities are intended for.</p>
<p>There has always been rhetorical and violent backlash when people express new ideas and challenge established norms. Women, queer, racialized and gender nonconforming students and professors are vulnerable to the violence of what is considered the norm. It is disingenuous and dangerous to pretend it is otherwise. </p>
<p>We must name things for what they are, acknowledge the ways that we are vulnerable, and confront the continued harm done by the unchecked and dehumanizing public forums of the internet. We hope the ongoing threat of violence does not deter younger generations from being curious, examining the world, and sharing their visions for the future. </p>
<p>What we need to do as a public community both inside and outside universities is support our youth by naming hatred and violence for what it is. In doing so, we can expose the consequences of the demonization of others and the weaponized use of language.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208904/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shana MacDonald receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alysia Kolentsis receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>The stabbings at the University of Waterloo remind us that violence for daring to stand in a classroom and speak is still ever-present.Shana MacDonald, Associate Professor of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooAlysia Kolentsis, Associate Professor, English language and literature, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085362023-06-30T13:09:22Z2023-06-30T13:09:22ZSierra Leone election: voter trust has been shaken, and will need to be regained<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534420/original/file-20230627-19-x4x237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Konneh announcing partial election results in Freetown on June 26, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Julius Maada Bio, a 59-year-old former soldier, was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/27/africa/maada-bio-reelected-sierra-leone-intl/index.html#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CBy%20the%20powers%20vested%20in,Chief%20Electoral%20Commissioner%20Mohamed%20Konneh.&text=Just%20hours%20after%20the%20results,their%20%E2%80%9Ctrust%20and%20dedication.%E2%80%9D">sworn in</a> for his second and final five-year term as president of Sierra Leone on 27 June. With <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-27/sierra-leonean-president-bio-wins-reelection-with-56-of-votes?srnd=fixed-income#xj4y7vzkg">56%</a> of votes cast in the election on 24 June, Bio was declared winner ahead of his main rival, Samura Kamara, who polled 41%.</em> </p>
<p><em>Kamara rejected the result and international election observers have highlighted some problems with the way votes were counted. There has been relative calm across Sierra Leone since Bio was sworn in. Earlier, the opposition All People’s Congress <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/26/police-fire-tear-gas-at-sierra-leone-opposition-after-vote">alleged</a> that the police had killed one of its supporters by firing live shots into their party offices a day after the polls. Police have <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66030749">denied</a> this.</em> </p>
<p><em>In this interview, Catherine Bolten, Professor of Anthropology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, fielded questions on lessons learnt from the poll and the future of democracy in Sierra Leone. As an <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/catherine-bolten-1450652/edit">anthropologist</a>, Bolten studies politics as a social practice, which means analysing how “democracy” manifests in campaigning, elections, and policy-making, and how people imagine democratic processes in their own lives. She has conducted research in Sierra Leone since 2003, and published a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=mB6TeugAAAAJ&citation_for_view=mB6TeugAAAAJ:Se3iqnhoufwC">2016 paper</a> that focused on how the country managed the first election it ran on its own in 2012.</em> </p>
<hr>
<h2>What did you learn from the outcome of this election?</h2>
<p>Sierra Leoneans expect that the election process is potentially corrupt unless there is full transparency in the whole process. This means from the moment the electoral commission is appointed to the selection criteria for the ballot design, the selection and training of poll workers, the invitation to the international community for electoral observers, and every other decision that might affect the outcome. </p>
<p>The public had very <a href="https://www.iri.org/resources/sierra-leone-poll-shows-high-levels-of-trust-in-most-national-institutions-concern-over-economy-and-education/">high levels</a> of trust in the two elections immediately after the civil war, which ended in 2002, because the United Nations was heavily involved. It was <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2012/11/425872">involved </a> in the planning and execution of the 2002 election and, to a lesser degree, the 2007 elections. </p>
<p>The 2012 election was the country’s <a href="https://www.cartercenter.org/news/features/p/democracy/sierra-leone-2012-elections.html">first self-administered election</a> since the war began. The whole population was committed to it being free, fair and without violence. They succeeded. </p>
<p>Since then, bad <a href="https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sierra-leone/democracy-governance-and-human-rights#:%7E:text=Despite%20increasing%20its%20stature%20as,uphold%20the%20rule%20of%20law.">old habits</a> of nepotism, cronyism, and back-room deals have reappeared. Whether corruption is as bad as opposition party members claim is not as important as the perception that the election is corrupt. </p>
<p>If there is any lesson to be learned, it is the necessity of rebuilding public trust in every election by maintaining a transparent process.</p>
<h2>What has changed between 2012 and 2023 to result in the return of nepotism and cronyism?</h2>
<p>2012 may have been a special moment, when the country came together in a concerted effort to ensure that the elections were conducted without violence, with no questions about the legitimacy of the polling, and with full knowledge that the world was watching. </p>
<p>As I wrote in my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=mB6TeugAAAAJ&citation_for_view=mB6TeugAAAAJ:Se3iqnhoufwC">2016 paper</a>, drastic measures such as restricting freedom of movement, work, association, and even dress in the months and days leading up to the election and on election day were imposed. The citizens complied without complaint, even as these were technically violations of basic human rights. This is because the people were so committed to ensuring a free and fair election. </p>
<p>Once these restrictions were allowed to loosen in succeeding elections, it portended a return to lack of transparency in the process, and thus to the powerful exerting themselves behind the scenes, because they were no longer also committed to these restrictions.</p>
<h2>Who has been responsible for the pre-election violence?</h2>
<p>Any whiff of corruption that could affect the outcome leads to accusations of democratic backsliding. A standard-bearer who considers themselves wronged will call on the party’s followers to “demonstrate”. This is to ensure that those who are potentially corrupt see that others are trying to hold them to account.</p>
<p>Any call for a “peaceful demonstration” is a challenge to the legitimacy of the claims being made by the other side. No political leader accuses their opposition of corruption and calls for “peaceful demonstrations” without knowing that violence will occur, no matter who throws the first stone or fires the first shot. </p>
<p>Rhetoric is powerful, and a hint of grumbling about corruption will fan the flames of violence.</p>
<h2>What factors determine voter turnout?</h2>
<p>There is an <a href="https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/sierra-leoneans-in-europe-protesting-against-president-bio-at-the-london-black-in-the-park/">old saying</a> in Sierra Leone politics: “same taxi, different driver”. It describes presidential candidates promising change when they get into office. The new president will do essentially what the last president did, with minor variations. </p>
<p>People are also well aware that their leaders are, by and large, <a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/SLE">corrupt</a>. There is plenty of <a href="https://stopillegalfishing.com/press-links/sierra-leone-is-losing-over-one-hundred-million-dollars-from-its-fishing-industry/">evidence</a> for this, from the fisheries ministry officials turning a blind eye to illegal fishing by Chinese trawlers, to the “<a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/SLE">trickle-down corruption</a>” that occurs in regular public life because public servants such as police officers and teachers are not being paid, and so demand bribes and tips from the community. This “everyday corruption” is blamed firmly on the cabinet ministers. The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/meet-sierra-leone-s-people-s-popstar-emmerson-bockarie-1.717088">local artist Emerson</a>, for example, consistently lambasts politicians in his music.</p>
<p>This does not dissuade people from turning out in numbers to cast votes for their preferred candidate. They have a sense of two things: one which is extremely likely, and the other which might happen. </p>
<p>What’s extremely likely is that if their ethnic or preferred candidate does not win, their region and their ethnic people will be neglected or harassed by the ruling party, or they will simply “stand still” and receive no development. They feel voting is the only real power they have to be a part of any decision-making process, and so turnout is consistently high.</p>
<p>What might happen is that, if their candidate wins, they will they reap the benefits of foreign direct investment, NGO relief, humanitarian distribution and infrastructure. </p>
<p>So they turn out to vote for the candidate who will hurt them the least, and might actually help them.</p>
<h2>What does the 2023 election outcome portend for democracy?</h2>
<p>It is clear that the fact that a candidate is declared a winner and then immediately sworn in does not protect the country from violence or democratic backsliding. </p>
<p>There may still be violence, and there may be a crackdown on protest, which starts down a dangerous road to authoritarianism or potentially wider violence. </p>
<p>I am not sure how this will affect the future of democracy in Sierra Leone. But I believe that the international community has a duty to send observers, if only to let a country’s citizens know that their election matters, and that they are part of the foundation of the international cause of democracy. </p>
<p>Backsliding anywhere is dangerous, and no election is too small to ignore. I hope that the democratic state in Sierra Leone holds up for the next five years, in order for this repair to happen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208536/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Bolten receives funding from the United States Institute for Peace, the IIE Fulbright Grant (USA), and the IIE David Boren Grant.</span></em></p>Sierra Leone needs to rebuild public trust in its election by maintaining a completely transparent process.Catherine Bolten, Professor of Anthropology and Peace Studies, University of Notre DameLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2000682023-05-18T12:42:10Z2023-05-18T12:42:10Z‘Rhetoric’ doesn’t need to be such an ugly word – it has a lot to teach echo-chambered America<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522678/original/file-20230424-28-b71nkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C9%2C2131%2C1385&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Rhetoric' has a bad rap – but some of the original rhetoricians' techniques can actually help foster productive conversations.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/election-debate-royalty-free-illustration/1187192599?phrase=debate%20podium&adppopup=true">smartboy10/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Early on in my <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/profile/ryan-leack/">writing courses</a>, I ask students to define their sense of rhetoric. Responses range from “persuasion” to “manipulation,” but they tend to share a negative connotation. Little wonder: In America today, the word is often used to dismiss a political opponent. Whereas a Democrat may find a favorite candidate’s speech inspiring, a Republican might call it “mere rhetoric,” implying a lack of substance or even honesty.</p>
<p>But what is rhetoric, really? More importantly, what does rhetoric do? </p>
<p>Today, rhetoric is often associated with one-sided arguments that cater to a particular corner of an echo chamber. Writing something off as “rhetoric” is often a power play, more about putting down an opponent than really seeking truth. Yet the earliest sense of the word, from the first rhetoricians 2,500 years ago, may help us listen to, learn from and even see validity in other perspectives. </p>
<h2>The famous triad</h2>
<p>Do some digging on rhetoric and you’ll run into Aristotle, who literally <a href="https://kairos.technorhetoric.net/stasis/2017/honeycutt/aristotle/rhet1-2.html">wrote the book on rhetoric</a>. The Greek philosopher defined it as an ability to discern <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/">what would be persuasive to a particular audience</a> and move them toward some desired opinion or action.</p>
<p>In fact, if my students know anything about rhetoric’s roots, it’s <a href="https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/rhetorical_situation/aristotles_rhetorical_situation.html">Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals</a>. Aristotle said that rhetoric could appeal to an audience in three main ways: through emotion, called pathos; through moral arguments or character, called ethos; and through logic or reason, called logos.</p>
<p>But Aristotle didn’t invent rhetoric himself. <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-rhetoric/">His teacher Plato</a> probably coined the Greek term, which meant the “art of speaking,” and used it to describe the practices of an even older group of thinkers and orators: the Sophists.</p>
<h2>Wandering teachers</h2>
<p>The Sophists roamed Greek city-states some 70 years before Aristotle, teaching effective communication skills and sometimes antagonizing people along the way. <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/protagoras/">Protagoras, the first Sophist</a>, was also the first person on record to have his writing burned by a public authority.</p>
<p>Although the Sophists’ teachings’ varied, they were alike in important ways, such as challenging the notion that timeless truth exists. What people can determine, they argued, is what is relatively better or worse.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A marble statue of a bearded man with curly hair in a toga-like garment." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1181&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1181&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522675/original/file-20230424-16-xq2wpo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1181&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of a Sophist teacher from the ancient Greek city of Smyrna, which is now the Turkish city of Izmir.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_a_sophist_%28a_teacher_of_philosophy_and_rhetoric%29,_from_Smyrna,_AD_193%E2%80%93211,_Izmir_Museum_of_History_and_Art,_Turkey_%2845300180414%29.jpg">Carole Raddato/Izmir Museum of History and Art/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both Plato and Aristotle condemned the Sophists, whom they viewed as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3810678">a threat to objective truth</a> and thus to philosophy itself. Platonists believed they could determine what was objectively right and wrong, good and evil, true and false.</p>
<p>Centuries later, modern scholars have reassessed the Sophists and pieced together <a href="https://hackettpublishing.com/philosophy/ancient-philosophy/the-older-sophists">fragments of their work</a>. The Sophists’ rhetorical practices acknowledge the diversity of cultural, moral and political values but avoid “anything goes” relativism. I’d argue that these qualities make their ideas particularly relevant for U.S. society today, which is divvied up into <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-of-living-inside-echo-chambers-110486">ideological echo chambers</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Man is the measure’</h2>
<p>Protagoras is most remembered by one line: “Man is the measure of all things.” In other words, he claims that <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/protagoras/#ManMeasThes">human beings are the judges of values</a> and ideas, of what is to be believed and not to be believed.</p>
<p>But in my view, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/292215.pdf">the “man-measure doctrine</a>” does more than say “It’s all relative.” It can prompt people to reflect on what standards, or criteria, we should use to make decisions.</p>
<p>The Sophists’ interest in rhetoric – effective communication – was not abstract. <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/sophists/">They were teachers and “orators</a>,” arguing cases in Greek city-states’ courts and governments. They were concerned with practical action. Just as one uses a measuring stick as a criterion of length or width, Sophists used one’s sense of value to determine what constitutes a better or worse action.</p>
<p>Protagoras emphasized, however, that not all measures are equal; some are superior to others in any given situation. In a country where democracy is valued, for instance, certain policies objectively strengthen or weaken democratic action. But those same policies may not work well in differently organized countries. There is no one-size-fits-all measure: Values must be repeatedly defined, debated and implemented.</p>
<p>In the modern context, this doctrine may help avoid the “anything goes” dangers of relativism, but also the “my way or the highway” danger of moral certitude. The question for Protagoras is not necessarily “What is true?” but “What is best for the moment?”</p>
<h2>Doing 180s</h2>
<p>It’s not enough to choose a measure and defend it, though. To have a real conversation, people must discuss, compare and test competing values.</p>
<p>Here, too, the Sophists may be of help. The “Dissoi Logoi” is an anonymous work related to Protagoras’ methods, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805479.039">written around 400 B.C.E.</a>, whose title means “contrasting arguments.” This is an exercise in which a rhetoric teacher would ask students to outline one of their firmest convictions, then ask them to defend the opposing view.</p>
<p>This practice tests students to argue a view from all sides – challenging different ideas to arrive at the strongest conclusion. Using dissoi logoi in any setting is valuable for understanding someone else’s positions and commitments, whether one is persuaded or not.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bone-colored carving of five men in toga-like garments, with one holding a tablet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522680/original/file-20230424-16-mwgdqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A relief from a sarcophagus portraying a rhetoric teacher with pupils.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/roman-civilization-4th-century-a-d-early-christian-news-photo/122319848?adppopup=true">Dea/A. Dagli Orti/De Agostini via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s ‘probably’ true</h2>
<p>Whereas philosophers of Plato’s time were searching for absolute truth, the Sophists often taught pupils to act on what is probably the case. Enter “eikos,” or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98482-3_3">probable reasoning</a>.</p>
<p>The Sophist Gorgias, for example, argues from probability in a famous case called <a href="https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0593.1st1K002.1st1K-grc1:1-5/">the Defense of Palamedes</a>, a mythological figure. According to a common legend, Palamedes had been killed for treason. Gorgias was the first writer to challenge this assumption, illustrating that Palamedes’ guilt was improbable because of a lack of motive and an unlikely chain of events.</p>
<p>Today, almost 2,500 years later, probable reasoning is more significant than ever because of the sheer amount of rapid, often contradictory information that floods the world each day – not to mention methods for manipulating <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/increasing_threats_of_deepfake_identities_0.pdf">photos, videos, voices and the like</a>. What seems reasonable or true today may be cast into doubt tomorrow.</p>
<p>Moreover, our world is chock-full of mutually exclusive beliefs, from religion to politics. It may not be useful to argue about what is absolutely “true,” but the Sophists help shift our focus to evidence about <a href="https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823256389/sophistical-practice/">what “probably” is or is not the case</a>, enabling us to act amid complexity and confusion.</p>
<p>There is one certain fact: There is a diverse but perplexing variety of views on any given issue. Absolute truth may exceed our grasp, but a measure of humility and caution may make it possible to responsibly navigate uncertainty, and the ancient Sophists’ techniques provide ways to do so – but only if people discuss their differences in good faith.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Leack does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ancient Greek philosophers despised the Sophists’ rhetoric because it searched for relative truth, not absolutes. But learning how to do that thoughtfully can help constructive debates.Ryan Leack, Lecturer of Writing & Rhetoric, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017492023-05-01T12:10:44Z2023-05-01T12:10:44ZRespectful persuasion is a relay race, not a solo sprint – 3 keys to putting it in practice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522413/original/file-20230421-26-rahwwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C3%2C2189%2C1352&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sure, you can try to force people to agree with you -- but respectful persuasion is something else.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/person-attracts-people-to-his-side-with-a-magnet-royalty-free-image/1310600143?phrase=persuasion&adppopup=true">Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2024 presidential election is still a year and a half away, but it can feel much closer: President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/-joe-biden-president-election-2024-campaign-announcement-rcna80990">has made his reelection bid official</a>, presumed candidates are <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/ron-desantis-pennsylvania-harrisburg-florida-presidential-20230401.html">giving out-of-state speeches</a>, pundits are already <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3863529-three-reasons-nikki-haleys-candidacy-is-a-race-to-watch/">weighing in on nomination hopefuls</a>, and social media is, as ever, a mess of people trying to persuade strangers to back their favorite. All for good reason: Even a little political persuasion in the next year could change the course of history.</p>
<p>I’m a philosopher <a href="https://phil.washington.edu/people/colin-marshall">who studies and teaches the ethics of persuasion</a>. My students are eager to find ways to persuade their friends, family and neighbors about political issues such as climate change and abortion. Moreover, many of them want to persuade with integrity: They want to engage the people they’re talking with respectfully, instead of using the manipulative tricks they regularly see in politics and marketing. But what is respectful persuasion, and what distinguishes it from disrespectful manipulation?</p>
<p>There’s no simple formula for respectful persuasion. However, some philosophers see crucial hints in the work of <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/">18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant</a>, whose theory of respect has guided many ethicists and policymakers for the past two centuries.</p>
<p>Drawing on Kant’s work, and that of other philosophers inspired by him, I think we can isolate three key components of respectful persuasion. This isn’t just an academic exercise. My students and I have found that these factors increase the chances of deep, meaningful conversation.</p>
<h2>1. Giving reasons</h2>
<p>Broadly speaking, reasons are considerations that rationally support some belief or action, including both empirical evidence and abstract arguments. For example, astronauts’ pictures of a round Earth rationally support the belief that the Earth is round. When we sincerely give someone reasons, we show respect for their rationality: their ability to recognize good reasons. </p>
<p>By contrast, a <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-manipulation/">hallmark of manipulation</a> is bypassing rationality, such as repeatedly exposing people to false statements to make them appear true – something that psychologists call the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-019-01651-4">illusory truth effect</a>.”</p>
<p>Manipulation can be effective, but psychologists have found that persuasion using reasons <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4964-1_1">is more durable</a> than nonrational persuasion such as repetition-based tricks. For example, someone who comes to believe in climate change based on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-everyone-needs-to-know-about-climate-change-in-6-charts-170556">scientific evidence</a> probably will not be as easily swayed later on by repeated exposure to climate skepticism. The rational support that good reasons provide for a belief can make that belief more stable. </p>
<h2>2. Being open to learning</h2>
<p>Giving reasons is not difficult by itself. The second component of respectful persuasion, however, is much more challenging: being open to receiving the other side’s reasons – a form of intellectual humility. This is especially hard for persuaders, since they have to give up some of the time they would have used to make their case.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A centuries-old painting of a serious-looking seated man in a powdered wig and brown suit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522414/original/file-20230421-14-ljke0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kant’s ideas about respect are still helpful for thinking through sticky situations today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/immanuel-kant-portrait-painting-by-d%C3%B6bler-1791-german-news-photo/171223546?adppopup=true">Culture Club/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kant expressed this core idea nicely. Even someone encountering a person whose opinion seems obviously wrong, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813306">Kant wrote</a>, has “a duty … to suppose that his judgment must yet contain some truth and to seek this out.” This isn’t merely a suggestion to listen to people one wants to persuade. Instead, respect demands actively seeking out truth in what the other person says. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217697695">some studies</a> suggest that intellectual humility makes people better able to evaluate the strength of arguments. This means that intellectually humble people may be more likely to recognize that a persuader’s arguments are actually better than their own, and have to reconsider their views – which can pose a real risk <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.789">to someone’s self-esteem</a>.</p>
<p>But being open to other people’s reasons also increases the chance of their being open to yours – a form of reciprocity in which you take turns learning from each other. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12773">Decades of psychological research</a> have shown that, especially in two-person exchanges, people value reciprocity in communication and see it as a way of treating each other fairly. </p>
<p>In other words, if you show openness to learning from someone else, rather than just lecturing, it may seem fair to them to be open to you too. </p>
<p>That is why faking this kind of respect can be a powerful manipulative tool. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055419000923">psychologically savvy canvasser</a>, for instance, can manipulate swing voters by pretending to be open to learning about their own opinions. But this carries its own risk, since people who discover they have been manipulated <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24332280">may resent it</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Live and let live</h2>
<p>Kant’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813306">central principle of respect</a> is that one should “not degrade any other as a mere means” to one’s ends. This requires people to rein in their own self-love out of consideration for others. In popular culture, this might be summed up in the idea of “live and let live”: Other things being equal, we shouldn’t interfere in other people’s lives. </p>
<p>Overlooking this principle can make persuasion disrespectful in a variety of ways, even when the persuader has good intentions. The philosopher <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/chinesestudies/tsai-george/">George Tsai</a> argues that this happens <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/papa.12026">in cases of unsolicited advice</a>: Imagine, he writes, that while your date goes to the restroom, an eavesdropping stranger tells you that she thinks you could do better. Even if the stranger is right, it’s simply none of her business.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men in business attire chat while a woman in a sleeveless white top listens in, looking concerned." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522415/original/file-20230421-18-phutz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having an opinion doesn’t mean you need to share it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/businesswoman-eavesdropping-on-conversation-royalty-free-image/1316007542?phrase=eavesdropping&adppopup=true">DragonImages/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another example of how interference can make persuasion disrespectful is that <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-what-should-you-say-to-someone-who-refuses-to-wear-a-mask-a-philosopher-weighs-in-142898">changing someone’s mind</a> can harm their dignity and disrupt their connection to their community. For example, say that you persuade a relative who lives in a small ranching community to become vegan. That change might lead to their being ostracized by people they rely on.</p>
<p>Because persuasion can affect other people’s lives in many ways, this third component of respect is the most difficult to adhere to. Sometimes, people may be justified in interfering in other people’s lives, such as if lives are at stake or in particularly <a href="https://doi.org/10.5206/fpq/2016.2.1">close relationships</a> – but those are special circumstances. </p>
<h2>One conversation at a time</h2>
<p>In class, my students attempt to persuade one another four times, using a range of formats: five minutes vs. a whole week; in person vs. over Zoom. At the end, they score one another on effectiveness and respectfulness.</p>
<p>My students are smart, informed and passionate, and the class offers them a positive, carefully structured environment. Despite all that, they almost never succeed in persuading one another – at least not when it comes to politics.</p>
<p>Something interesting happens, though, when they let respect guide their conversations. Instead of launching into lectures, they start seeing each exchange as an opportunity to learn from each other – perhaps as an opportunity to leave their partner thinking about something in a new way, without fully persuading them.</p>
<p>If you approach our conversation as a chance to exchange ideas, without trying to change my mind, you may lay a cornerstone of trust. That, in turn, could make me more receptive to similar viewpoints in the future – even if I’m speaking with other people. Truly respectful political persuasion might best be seen as an extended team effort, not a one-time, one-person task.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Marshall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Immanuel Kant’s ideas about respect are still important today, in a world where social media and echo chambers make manipulation easy.Colin Marshall, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027072023-04-09T12:07:34Z2023-04-09T12:07:34ZThe power of language: How rhetoric awareness can combat hiring bias and discrimination<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518831/original/file-20230331-20-l516yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C672%2C5103%2C3060&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Literary theory can help us understand why hiring managers prioritize some types of job experience over others.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I first realized the usefulness of literary theory to the issue of hiring discrimination when I came across an article about a permanent resident struggling to find employment in architecture, her field of expertise, in Canada.</p>
<p>Employment counsellors from a government-funded newcomer program suggested the resident should <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/first-person-degree-was-worthless-in-canada-1.6772923">shave foreign experience off her resume</a> so she wouldn’t appear overqualified to recruiters.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-removing-%22canadian-experience%22-barrier">policy</a> and <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/statement/1001242/ontario-passes-the-working-for-workers-act">labour law changes</a>, Canadian-specific work experience is still a barrier for many newcomers struggling to find employment in Canada. Beyond finding a job in the first place, there is also an <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2021004/article/00004-eng.htm">increasing wage gap between Canadians and immigrants</a> with the same level of education and work experience.</p>
<p>While many regard these issues as a matter of social policy, we are also dealing with a cultural, aesthetic problem. As a researcher in comparative literature, I believe literary theory can offer unique insight into the hiring process. </p>
<p>In particular, literary theory can help us understand how managers actually <em>read</em> resumes and why they prioritize certain types of experience over others. Understanding forms of unconscious bias can help us understand current hiring prejudices and, ideally, help us move past and overcome them.</p>
<h2>Relying on rhetorical devices</h2>
<p>The act of evaluating resumes is a reading exercise, and as such, it is bound to the conventions of literary genres. Literary theory can help us understand, for example, why hiring managers often succumb to a form of <a href="https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/insights-and-advice/blog/post/actively-addressing-unconscious-bias-in-recruiting">unconscious bias known as affinity bias</a> by seeking out familiarity in resumes.</p>
<p>Two types of rhetorical devices — <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/4888/the-case-for-god-by-karen-armstrong/9780307397447">logos and mythos</a> — are especially useful for understanding the resume reviewing process. </p>
<p>Mythos relies on external authority figures to provide knowledge, while logos requires the reader to process the information by themselves. The act of name-dropping is an example of mythos, while academic jargon is an example of logos. </p>
<p>A headline reading “<a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2022/06/09/canadas-trump-is-politer-than-the-real-thing">Canada’s Trump</a>” about a Conservative Party candidate (mythos) is much easier to grasp than an academic paper explaining how <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43298397">Conservative politicians have implemented “brand repositioning” strategies</a> (logos) in a way similar to Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Mythos serves as a shortcut: what we already know helps us understand what we don’t know. Evaluating a resume is meant to be an exercise in thinking about a candidate and yet resumes listing well-known companies — Apple, BMW, Colgate — are meant to be read quickly, without much thought. </p>
<p>Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecenizalevine/2015/09/12/five-items-on-your-resume-recruiters-notice-first/">recommends placing company names first</a> in a resume, revealing that mythos, or familiarity, is valued by hiring managers.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7j1ApF6agCU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This Google advertisement chronicles a newcomer’s difficulty in finding a job with their prior experience.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Google’s recent advertisement promoting its work certifications similarly show that immigrants need recognizable, familiar experience — not necessarily local. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Technology-growth-inequality_final.pdf">global disparities in technological resources</a> mean not all companies can be verified as trustworthy names. In cases like this, what happens to resumes that don’t have experience that can be pulled up online? The short answer is they may be deemed unverifiable or untrustworthy.</p>
<h2>Hiring prejudice is nothing new</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/diversity-inclusion-equality-intersectionality/">barriers that certain groups of people</a> — including women, people of colour, queer and trans folks, and economically disadvantaged groups — face at work has historical precedents.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A black and white photo of a woman sitting down" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=955&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=955&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518826/original/file-20230331-20-7hjbn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=955&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo of George Sand taken by French photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon in 1864.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Galerie Contemporaine)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the early 1840s, a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24694550">young Marx was reading French writer George Sand</a>, a rare female voice in the literary profession and an easy target of sexism. </p>
<p>Her 1841 socialist novel, <em>Le Compagnon du tour de France</em>, parodied employers who rejected bohemian young men with fragmented work experience.</p>
<p>The novel told the story about a clash between traditional employers and their values, and a new class of nomadic young workers that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202257.003.0002">emerged during that decade’s rural exodus</a>.</p>
<p>One employer, Mr. Huguenin, is only interested in hiring familiar young men. In one scene, <a href="https://archive.org/details/journeymanjoiner0000sand/page/40/mode/2up">he asks a headhunter</a>: “You must have companions of the Tour of France, children of the Temple, sorcerers, libertines, the off-scourings of the highways?”</p>
<p>Like newcomers to Canada, Sand’s nomadic workers faced prejudice because they lacked social history, not employment history. At a time when technological progress had <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/JINH_a_00205">not yet fostered a cohesive national identity in France</a>, prejudice against workers in the 1840s had to do with their unfamiliar origins within, not outside, France. </p>
<p>Do we share Mr. Huguenin’s fears when we expect Canadian experience from newcomers? Could the same type of prejudice be threatening Canadians?</p>
<h2>Trust is the solution</h2>
<p>The fact that work experience must be recognized or certified is symptomatic of a larger crisis in trust — a crisis that has been <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4187181">compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. We have not come a long way from Sand’s time: her contemporaries may have sometimes believed in “sorcerers, libertines, the off-scourings of the highways,” but we still believe people can trick us.</p>
<p>By using literary theory to understand how rhetorical strategies like mythos and logos can shape the hiring process, we can gain insight into why some types of discrimination still persist — and how we can overcome them.</p>
<p>The solution to the trust crisis and hiring discrimination is slowing down and taking the time to truly understand an applicant’s resume. Practically speaking, employers should use unfamiliar work experiences as an invitation to poke further and discover a new culture or perspective. It is only superficially that work experiences from other countries may be seen as nontransferable to Canada. </p>
<p>Recently, we have been boasting about how the Canadian dream is <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/immigration-booming-population-and-global-influence-is-this-the-heroic-canadian-dream-1.5693991">overtaking its American counterpart</a>. But we should not imitate our neighbour to the south: the construction of any national myth is bound to be exclusionary.</p>
<p>Instead, what we need is a new myth, according to which all work experiences are relevant and valid experiences. No one should have to toil and labour for years before meriting trust. If employers considered resumes a few minutes longer and did their research thoroughly, we could genuinely break experience-related barriers into the workforce.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rayyan Dabbous does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Understanding how hiring managers evaluate candidates can help us understand current hiring prejudices and, hopefully, help us overcome them.Rayyan Dabbous, PhD student, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1963522023-01-05T13:28:45Z2023-01-05T13:28:45ZNot all insurrections are equal – for enslaved Americans, it was the only option<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502865/original/file-20230102-26-9ngo5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=906%2C102%2C4797%2C3489&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Donald Trump supporters take over the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporters-take-over-the-steps-of-the-capitol-on-news-photo/1230453118?phrase=jan.%206%20insurrection%20us%20capitol&adppopup=true">Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most Americans, Jan. 6 was once an ordinary, ho-hum day. </p>
<p>That changed in 2021 when millions of television viewers watched thousands of Trump supporters assault the U.S. Capitol in their violent attempt to stop Joe Biden’s presidential victory. </p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-siege-lawmakers-trauma-04e29724aa6017180259385642c1b990">Legislators fled for their lives</a> as the mob shattered <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/us/rioters-capitol-building-damage-photos-trnd/index.html">windows</a> and vandalized <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/politics/2021/01/07/photos-damage-inside-us-capitol/6576121002/">congressional offices</a>. </p>
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<p>While those images and subsequent <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/january6th/collection/CRPT">congressional investigation and report</a> are part of the collective memory, a debate still rages over what exactly to call what happened that day.</p>
<p>Was it a rally <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/completed-evolution-trump-sees-jan-6-rioters-patriots-n1288524">comprising American patriots</a>, or, as many <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/politics/republicans-jan-6-cheney-censure.html">Republicans refer to the day’s events</a>, “legitimate political discourse”?</p>
<p>Or was it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/19/us/jan-6-committee-trump">an insurrection</a>, as most observers have called the Jan. 6 attack?</p>
<h2>Words matter</h2>
<p><a href="https://emerson.edu/faculty-staff-directory/deion-hawkins">As a professor </a> who teaches <a href="https://emerson.edu/courses-list?subject=96&page=3">rhetoric of social movements</a>, I am well versed in concepts of protests, rebellions and insurrections. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1913838">my research on police brutality</a> is heavily influenced by <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2022/10/12/black-lives-matter-at-10-years-what-impact-has-it-had-on-policing/">Black Lives Matter</a> and other movements focused on Black liberation and safety.</p>
<p>In an article published in the academic journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642221091195">American Behavioral Scientist</a>, my colleague <a href="https://emerson.edu/faculty-staff-directory/sharifa-simon-roberts">Sharifa-Simon Roberts</a> and I argue that any discussion about American insurrections must include the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/insurrections-slave-stampedes-riots.htm">experiences of Black rebellions</a>. </p>
<p>For centuries, insurrections were among the only tools enslaved people had for social change and, ultimately, freedom. </p>
<p>From Nat Turner’s insurrection in 1831, the story of which was <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4196450/">developed into a movie</a>, to the squelched insurrection in 1687 of a Black man named Sam who was owned by <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/punishment-for-the-enslaved-man-sam-1688/">Richard Metcalfe</a>, insurrections and rebellions have always been used by Black people who were enslaved in the U.S.</p>
<p>In my view, what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, was <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331186623_Cooptation_and_non-cooptation_elite_strategies_in_response_to_social_protest">a co-option</a> of a <a href="http://slaverebellion.info/index.php?page=united-states-insurrections">Black liberation tactic</a> that was used to remedy an injustice enshrined in the law.</p>
<p>But unlike Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, which were legally challenged and proved untrue, insurrections by enslaved people were based on a legitimate flaw in the U.S. Constitution – the denial of full citizenship based on skin color and race.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle-aged man wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red tie is seen on a large screen talking on a telephone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A visual of President Donald Trump is shown during the July 12, 2022, congressional hearings investigating the attack on the Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/july-12-2022-a-visual-of-president-donald-trump-is-shown-as-news-photo/1241888427?adppopup=true">Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Insurrections by enslaved people</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383">According to federal law</a>, an insurrectionist is “whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto.”</p>
<p>If found guilty, an insurrectionist could be fined or imprisoned for no more than 10 years and “shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.” </p>
<p>In my view, rebellions of the enslaved can aptly be classified as insurrections. </p>
<p>From the early 1600s, historians <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/slave-rebellions">estimate</a> that there were around 250 insurrections in America that involved 10 or more enslaved people using violence to fight for equal rights.</p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40399115">work published in 1937</a>, historian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herbert-Aptheker">Herbert Aptheker</a> writes, “Nothing has been more neglected, nor, more distorted than the story of slave revolts.”</p>
<p>A few of them are summarized below.</p>
<h2>September 1739: 13 original colonies</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://enslaved.org/fullStory/16-23-92889/">Stono Rebellion</a> was the largest and deadliest insurrection by enslaved people in the 18th century. </p>
<p>In a bloody fight for freedom, dozens of enslaved men raided a firearms store and attempted to journey to freedom. The group grew to about 60 people and continued to fight, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Stono-rebellion">but white people</a> quickly stopped the progress. </p>
<p>By dusk, the insurrection had ended. Half the men were killed and the other half captured, left to an uncertain fate.</p>
<h2>January 1811: New Orleans</h2>
<p>Inspired by the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p2990.html">Haitian Revolution</a>, when people of color overthrew their French colonizers at the turn of the 19th century, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/02/11/133684831/A-Tribute-To-Slave-Revolt-Leader-Charles-Deslonde">Charles Deslondes</a> led one of the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/7-famous-slave-revolts">largest insurrections</a> in American history. </p>
<p>Armed with muskets and ammunition stolen from the plantation’s basement, formerly enslaved people mobilized and killed their owner <a href="https://www.destrehanplantation.org/history/1811-slave-revolt">Manuel Andry</a> and his son, Gilbert.</p>
<p>Donning the military uniforms once proudly worn by their oppressors, the group continued throughout New Orleans, wreaking havoc on plantations along the way. It is estimated that between <a href="https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1402">200-500 people</a> participated in the insurrection before a white militia defeated them.</p>
<h2>August 1831: Southampton County, Virginia</h2>
<p>One of the most <a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/turner/turner.html">well-documented</a> and well-known slave insurrections in history was led by <a href="https://www.biography.com/activist/nat-turner">Nat Turner</a>. As a preacher, Turner <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/understanding-gospel-nat-turner-180960714/">used his belief in God</a> to unite the enslaved and lead the largest insurrection in American history.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A small group of Black men and women listen to a Black man as they gather in the woods." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502835/original/file-20230102-70116-2so5gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Nat Turner and his companions are shown in a wooded area in 1831.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-slave-leader-nat-turner-and-his-companions-are-news-photo/116050949?phrase=nat%20turner&adppopup=true">Stock Montage/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Known as the <a href="https://www.americanantiquarian.org/NatTurner/the-southampton-insurrection">Southampton Insurrection</a>, Turner’s rebellion started where he was enslaved, the Travis plantation near <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/archeology-enslaved-laborers-travis-plantation.htm">Jamestown, Virginia</a>, the first permanent English settlement in what’s now the United States. After he and around 70 rebels killed the plantation’s owner, they marched throughout the county, resulting in the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-nat-turners-rebellion#:%7E:text=5.,they%20slept%20in%20their%20beds.">death of nearly 60</a>.</p>
<p>Thirty years later, in 1861, The <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1861/08/nat-turners-insurrection/308736/">Atlantic published a recounting of the insurrection</a> by white abolitionist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Wentworth-Higginson">Thomas Wentworth Higginson</a>.</p>
<p>“The black men passed from house to house, not pausing, not hesitating, as their terrible work went on,” Higginson wrote. “From every house they took arms and ammunition, and from a few, money; on every plantation they found recruits.”</p>
<h2>Unequal insurrections?</h2>
<p>In their article “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2021/01/14/956777105/from-protest-to-riot-to-insurrection-how-nprs-language-evolved">From Protest to Riot to Insurrection</a>,” National Public Radio journalists detailed the importance of using specific language to cover Jan. 6. </p>
<p>Merriam-Webster <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/insurrection-20210106">observed a 34,000% increase</a> in individuals looking up the definition of “insurrection” in the days following Jan. 6, 2021.</p>
<p>The word was also listed as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-matters-podcast/episode-69-words-of-2021">runner-up for 2021 word of the year</a>, losing to “vaccine.”</p>
<p>Despite the interest in the word and the ongoing debate over the events of Jan. 6, 2021, in my view some insurrections are more equal than others as the legitimate plight of enslaved people continues to be be ignored, overlooked and all but forgotten.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deion Scott Hawkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The events of Jan. 6, 2021, have been called an insurrection. The same word has often been used to describe the mostly forgotten rebellions against plantation owners by enslaved people.Deion Scott Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Argumentation & Advocacy, Emerson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1885142022-09-27T12:27:24Z2022-09-27T12:27:24ZHow to get away with torture, insurrection, you name it: The techniques of denial and distraction that politicians use to manage scandal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485991/original/file-20220921-15489-27uhle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C26%2C5846%2C3783&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown during a House committee hearing. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotInvestigationTheHearings/607bcab2249f4b43ba259f6bceb3aa02/photo?Query=capitol%20hearing%20jan&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=6791&currentItemNo=47">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection intends to hold <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125436577/jan-6-hearings-committee-postponed-hurricane-ian">another public hearing</a>, likely the last before it releases its official report. The hearing had been scheduled for Sept. 28, 2022 but was postponed because of Hurricane Ian.</p>
<p>Through earlier hearings this past summer, the committee has shown how former President Donald Trump and close associates <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-capitol-siege-ivanka-trump-biden-presidential-56da6a3963ee91021b4a52a0b4b00e62">spread the “big lie” of a stolen election</a>. The hearings have also shown how Trump stoked the rage of protesters who marched to the U.S. Capitol and then <a href="https://apnews.com/article/Jan-6-hearings-Trump-capitol-10351fe6d555eaee7554379ceed8bb24">refused to act</a> when they breached the building. </p>
<p>The hearings have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/arts/television/jan-6-hearings-tv.html">aired in prime time</a> and dominated news cycles. Still, <a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_080922/">polling conducted in August by Monmouth University</a> found that around 3 in 10 Americans still believe that Trump “did nothing wrong regarding January 6.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://liberalarts.du.edu/about/people/jared-del-rosso">a sociologist</a> who <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479828968/denial">studies denial</a>, I analyze how people ignore clear truths and use rhetoric to convince others to deny them, too. Politicians and their media allies have long used this rhetoric to manage scandals. Trump and his supporters’ responses to the Jan. 6 investigation are no exception.</p>
<h2>Stages of denial</h2>
<p>Commonly, people think of denial as a state of being: Someone is “in denial” when they reject obvious truths. However, denial also consists of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12399">linguistic strategies</a> that people use to downplay their misconduct and avoid responsibility for it.</p>
<p>These strategies are remarkably adaptable. They’ve been used by both political parties to manage wildly different scandals. Even so, the strategies tend to be used in fairly predictable ways. Because of this, we can often see scandals unfold through clear stages of denial. </p>
<p>In my <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/talking-about-torture/9780231170925">previous research on denial and U.S. torture</a>, I analyzed how the George W. Bush administration and supporters in Congress adjusted the forms of denial they used as new allegations and evidence of abuses in the global “war on terror” became public.</p>
<p>For instance, after photographs of <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/04/04/472964974/it-was-torture-an-abu-ghraib-interrogator-acknowledges-horrible-mistakes">torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq</a> were released in the spring of 2004, Abu Ghraib was described as a deplorable but <a href="https://www.academia.edu/21999356/The_Textual_Mediation_of_Denial_Congress_Abu_Ghraib_and_the_Construction_of_an_Isolated_Incident?from=cover_page">isolated incident</a>. At the time, there wasn’t serious public evidence of detainee abuse at other U.S. facilities.</p>
<p>Later revelations about the use of torture at <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43653932">Guantánamo Bay</a> and secret <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sou060">CIA black sites</a> changed things. The Bush administration could no longer claim that torture was an isolated incident. Officials also faced allegations that they had <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/12/21/fbi-agents-allege-abuse-of-detainees-at-guantanamo-bay/8fb551bb-ac5b-4f74-b1c0-3b026e15f68b/">directly and knowingly authorized torture</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A museum display shows a wooden board the size of a person below the words 'What is torture?'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486010/original/file-20220921-8445-u0nvyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An exhibit on torture includes a section on waterboarding in the International Spy Museum in Washington in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SpyMuseum/c0624dc9a30845058afeed9579aaf222/photo?Query=waterboarding&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=40&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Facing these allegations, Bush and his supporters began justifying and downplaying torture. To many Americans, torture, once deplorable, was rebranded as <a href="https://www.reed.edu/poli_sci/faculty/rejali/articles/US_Public_Opinion_Torture_Gronke_Rejali.pdf">an acceptable national security tool</a>: “enhanced interrogation.” </p>
<p>As the debate about torture shows, political responses to scandal often begin with outright denials. But rarely do they end there. When politicians face credible evidence of political misconduct, they often try other forms of denial. Instead of saying allegations are untrue, they may downplay the seriousness of allegations, justify their behavior or try to distract from it.</p>
<p>It’s not just Republican administrations that use denial in this way. When the Obama administration could no longer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/world/asia/12drones.html">outright deny civilian casualties</a> caused by drone strikes, it downplayed them. In a <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/23/remarks-president-national-defense-university">2013 national security speech</a>, President Barack Obama contrasted drone strikes with the use of “conventional air power or missiles,” which he described as “far less precise.” He also justified drone strikes, arguing that “to do nothing in the face of terrorist networks would invite far more civilian casualties.”</p>
<h2>Scandal strategies in play</h2>
<p>Americans watched the Jan. 6 insurrection on TV and social media as it happened. Given the vividness of the day, outright denials of the insurrection are particularly far-fetched and marginal – though they do exist. For example, some Trump supporters have claimed that left-wing “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-the-conversation-ec8606bc075f7922c9041f3068e4bc25">antifa</a>” groups breached the Capitol – a claim many <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/02/972564176/antifa-didnt-storm-the-capitol-just-ask-the-rioters">rioters themselves</a> have rejected.</p>
<p>Some of Trump’s supporters in Congress and the media have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/09/we-looked-antifa-capitol-we-couldnt-find-any/">repeated the claim</a> that the insurrection was staged to discredit Trump. But given Trump’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-jan-6-rioters-pardon/">own vocal support for the insurrectionists</a>, supporters usually deploy more nuanced denials to downplay the day’s events. </p>
<p>So what happens when outright denial fails? From ordinary citizens to political elites, people often respond to allegations by “condemning the condemners,” accusing their accusers of exaggerating – or of doing worse things themselves, a strategy called “advantageous comparisons.”</p>
<p>Together, these two strategies paint those making accusations as untrustworthy or hypocritical. As I show in <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479828968/denial">my new book on denial </a>, these are standard denials of those managing scandals. </p>
<p>“Condemning the condemners” and “advantageous comparisons” have been central to efforts to minimize the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well. Some critics of the committee downplay the insurrection by <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/false-equivalency-black-lives-matter-capitol-siege-experts/story?id=75251279">likening it to the Black Lives Matter protests</a>, despite the fact that <a href="https://acleddata.com/2020/09/03/demonstrations-political-violence-in-america-new-data-for-summer-2020/">the vast majority were peaceful</a>.</p>
<p>“For months, our cities burned, police stations burned, our businesses were shattered. And they said nothing. Or they cheer-led for it. And they fund-raised for it. And they allowed it to happen in the greatest country in the world,” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1LF6182o-4">said during Trump’s second impeachment</a>. “Now, some have cited the metaphor that the president lit the flames. Well, they lit actual flames, actual fires!” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/we-need-congressional-investigation-the-2020-riots">Similar comparisons</a> reappeared amid the <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/06/15/the-hypocrisy-and-disconnect-of-the-partisan-jan-6-probe/">House select committee’s hearings</a>. One NFL coach called Jan. 6 a “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/09/1103906789/washington-commanders-defensive-coordinator-jack-del-rio-jan-6-riot-a-dust-up">dust-up</a>” by comparison to the Black Lives Matter protests. </p>
<p>These forms of denial do several things at once. They direct attention away from the original focus of the scandal. They minimize Trump’s role in inciting the violence of Jan. 6 by making the claim that Democrats incite even more destructive forms of violence. And they discredit the investigation by suggesting that those leading it are hypocrites, more interested in scoring political points than in curtailing political violence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A small group of protesters in a circle, with a man holding a 'Trump won' poster in the middle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486011/original/file-20220921-15489-rstvio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump supporters and members of the far-right group Proud Boys gather during a ‘Justice for January 6th Vigil’ in New York on Jan. 6, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotAnniversary/17950ea7bc0a4162b00f0b97ba71a308/photo?Query=trump%20capitol%20january%206&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=106&currentItemNo=29">AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trickle-down denial</h2>
<p>These denials may not sway a majority of Americans. Still, they’re consequential. Denial trickles down by providing ordinary citizens with scripts for talking about political scandals. Denials also reaffirm beliefs, allowing people to filter out information that contradicts what they hold to be true. Indeed, ordinary Americans <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/17/us/politics/Capitol-conspiracy-theories-blm-antifa.html">have adapted “advantageous comparisons</a>” to justify the insurrection. </p>
<p>This has happened before. For example, in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12035">a study of politically active Americans</a>, sociologists <a href="https://www.albany.edu/womensstudies/faculty/barbara-sutton">Barbara Sutton</a> and <a href="https://sociology.uoregon.edu/profile/norgaard/">Kari Marie Norgaard</a> found that some Americans adopted pro-torture politicians’ rhetoric – such as supporting “enhanced interrogation” and defending practices like waterboarding as a way to gather intelligence, even as they condemned “torture.” </p>
<p>For this reason, it’s important to recognize when politicians and the media draw from the denial’s playbook. By doing so, observers can better distinguish between genuine political disagreements and the predictable denials, which protect the most powerful by excusing their misconduct. </p>
<p><em>Article updated to indicate that the House select committee hearing scheduled for Sept. 28, 2022 was postponed on Sept. 27, 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jared Del Rosso has volunteered with the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), a non-profit organization that engages in policy advocacy work. His partner was previously employed by CVT and currently consults with the organization. </span></em></p>There are genuine political disagreements, and then there are time-worn strategies for selling denial to the public. A sociologist breaks down the patterns.Jared Del Rosso, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886312022-08-15T18:09:40Z2022-08-15T18:09:40ZGOP ‘message laundering’ turns violent, extremist reactions to search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago into acceptable political talking points<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479151/original/file-20220815-19-n7qmyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of former President Donald Trump rally in Bedminster, N.J., on Aug. 14, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/supporters-of-former-president-of-the-united-states-donald-j-trump-picture-id1242508358?s=2048x2048">Kyle Mazza/Andalou Agency via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After the FBI <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/13/trump-mar-a-lago-search/">completed a lawful search</a> of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Aug. 8, 2022, conservative politicians responded with one of three strategies: <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2022/08/10/wyoming-reacts-to-fbis-raid-on-trump-estate-cheney-goes-silent/">silence</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3595121-mcconnell-calls-for-thorough-and-immediate-explanation-of-mar-a-lago-raid/">circumspection</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/republicans-lash-justice-department-fbi-searches-trumps-mar-lago-home-rcna42139">attack</a>.</p>
<p>Many responses echoed Trump’s own framing of the search. In his <a href="https://saveamerica.nucleusemail.com/amplify/v/XeHZxcJVhW">Aug. 8 message he claimed</a> his residence was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” In the statement, replete with war metaphors, Trump alleged that executing a legal warrant was “the weaponization of the Justice System” and an “assault” that “could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries.”</p>
<p>Trump’s framing of the event was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/08/trump-fbi-search-reaction/">quickly echoed by most Republican politicians</a> commenting immediately on Twitter, despite the fact that they, like Democrats and the public, lacked relevant knowledge of the facts of the case that prompted the search and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/12/trump-warrant-release/">seizure of classified documents</a>. </p>
<p>The impulse to hastily legitimize Trump’s perspective illustrates a dangerous rhetorical strategy frequently employed by GOP politicians during the Trump era: <a href="https://ncpolicywatch.com/2021/05/24/message-laundering-how-the-far-right-is-getting-its-dirty-work-done-at-unc/">message laundering</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white man in a blue suit stands on a stage with the words 'Governor De Santis' lit up behind him. He throws a hat into an audience of people." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479149/original/file-20220815-19-l6mly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a conservative student summit in Tampa on July 22, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/florida-gov-ron-desantis-tosses-hats-into-the-audience-as-he-takes-picture-id1410363357?s=2048x2048">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Conditioned to accept violence</h2>
<p>Message laundering occurs when inflammatory language and/or unsubstantiated claims are mixed with mainstream partisan communication and presented to the public with an air of respectability. Just as <a href="https://medium.com/@alacergroup/from-the-laundromat-to-wall-street-a-history-of-money-laundering-c6a5407e785c">money laundering</a> enabled mobsters to disguise their ill-gotten gain as the profits of a legitimate business, message laundering presents dishonest and dangerous speech as credible, innocuous or persuasive.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/people/karrin/">political communication scholar</a>, I study how rhetoric strengthens or erodes democratic institutions. The aftermath of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search illustrates how message laundering can undermine democratic processes and gradually condition its audience to expect and accept violence.</p>
<p>After Trump released his statement, conservative politicians echoed key aspects of his message. Some sanitized Trump’s ideas by combining them with more measured critique or references to democratic processes. </p>
<p>House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1556807790433271809">decried</a> an “intolerable state of weaponized politicization” in the Justice Department, even as he promised to “follow the facts” and “leave no stone unturned” if the GOP retook the House. <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Democrats-slam-McCarthy-over-response-to-FBI-raid-17362251.php">Democrats</a> interpreted his directive to Attorney General Merrick Garland, “preserve your documents and clear your calendar,” <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3593582-mccarthy-threatens-to-probe-garland-after-trump-fbi-raid/">as a threat</a>. But the tweet launders Trump’s notion of a weaponized Justice Department by combining it with McCarthy’s promise to use democratic processes to “follow the facts.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Tweet from Kevin McCarthy" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479046/original/file-20220814-41084-g64qfl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem recycled Trump’s war metaphors in <a href="https://twitter.com/KristiNoem/status/1556793510229065728">her tweet</a>, saying, “The FBI raid on President Trump’s home is an unprecedented political weaponization of the Justice Department.” She tempered that imagery, however, by appealing to the rule of law in the same tweet, asserting that “using the criminal justice system in this manner is un-American.”</p>
<p>Not all of the GOP’s early statements were measured, however. Some laundered more extreme ideas and edged readers toward an acceptance of violence.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://twitter.com/RonDeSantisFL/status/1556803433939755010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">tweet</a> sent the night of the search, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis labeled the search a “raid” and described it as “another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents.” He continued, saying, “Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.”</p>
<p>DeSantis’ invocation of “the Regime” legitimizes a fringe <a href="https://compactmag.com/article/they-can-t-let-him-back-in">notion peddled</a> by Michael Anton, a right-wing commentator and member of Trump’s administration. Anton speculates that Democratic elected officials would work in concert with members of the Biden administration, liberal judges and the media – who, together, form “the regime” – to prevent Trump from taking office again using legal or illegal means. </p>
<p>DeSantis referenced a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2022/08/11/irs-to-add-87000-new-agents-more-crypto-tax-enforcement/?sh=7c1de1963213">budgetary item included in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act</a> that would allocate “$80 billion to the IRS.”</p>
<p>McCarthy also referred to that aspect of the bill, <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1557088624499429377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1557088624499429377%7Ctwgr%5E6d810e9beb50025f698719555b690d1a69a69cec%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politifact.com%2Ffactchecks%2F2022%2Faug%2F11%2Fkevin-mccarthy%2Fkevin-mccarthys-mostly-false-claim-about-army-8700%2F">alleging</a> a “new army of 87,000 IRS agents” are “coming for” American taxpayers. <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/aug/11/kevin-mccarthy/kevin-mccarthys-mostly-false-claim-about-army-8700/">Politifact</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/11/hyperbolic-gop-claims-about-irs-agents-audits/">The Washington Post</a> debunked the notion. Yet Republicans <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/3594879-gop-rails-against-irs-funding-in-inflation-reduction-act/">repeatedly made that argument</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Gestapo’ and ‘brown shirts’</h2>
<p>The imagery of an “army” of federal agents turned against ordinary Americans via legislative mandate legitimized the alarmist rhetoric that followed. As GOP tweets coalesced, the line item from the Inflation Reduction Act merged with reports of the Mar-a-Lago search in ways designed to make individual voters feel vulnerable.</p>
<p>Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., <a href="https://twitter.com/Rep_Clyde/status/1557054031125778433">tweeted</a>, “If they weaponize the FBI to go after President Trump, they will surely weaponize the IRS’s 87,000 new agents to go after you.” </p>
<p>The GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1556791214875328515">tweeted</a>, “If they can do it to a former President, imagine what they can do to you.” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., <a href="https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1556845893332205569">tweeted</a>, “This #DepartmentofInjustice must be held accountable. It was President Trump today, but it’s you next if we don’t take a stand.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Tweet from Rep. Lauren Boebert" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479047/original/file-20220814-59179-whppmy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After making audiences feel personally threatened, GOP messaging returned to the war posture implied in Trump’s original statement. </p>
<p>Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1556783786976845824">tweeted</a> that the FBI “raiding President Trump’s home” was the “type of things that happen in countries during civil war.” Conservative pundits and politicians cast FBI agents as “<a href="https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh/status/1556806316445802502">Gestapo</a>” and “<a href="https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1556790609213546496">brown shirts</a>,” the latter referring to Hitler’s storm troopers. In an interview on Fox News, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1556990717951713280">exclaimed</a>, “This should scare the living daylights out of America citizens” and compared the U.S. federal government to the Nazis, the Soviet Union and Latin American dictatorships.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A tweet that says 'Tomorrow is war. Sleep well.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479144/original/file-20220815-13-g4bf10.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tweet sent by a conservative commentator on the evening of the day former President Trump announced the FBI had searched his Florida home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1556830994354905094?s=20&t=ItwCMIgFWMy9VQfb8V_gcQ">Twitter</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next, #CivilWar?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41939743">Communication scholars</a> have <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Demagoguery_and_Democracy.html?id=61ZeDgAAQBAJ">observed</a> that once political opponents are cast in those terms, democratic remedies are insufficient. The opponent must be destroyed, and violent repercussions seem reasonable. </p>
<p>A Bloomberg newsletter <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-10/fbi-raid-at-mar-a-lago-quickly-sparks-social-media-narratives">noted</a> that during the week of Aug. 8, the #CivilWar hashtag gained traction on various platforms, reflecting a “war-time mentality (that) has become increasingly common since it’s started to find footing with politicians.” </p>
<p>The Texas Nationalist Movement issued <a href="https://tnm.me/news/tnm-news/statement-on-the-federal-raid-of-the-trump-residence/">a statement</a> citing the “raid” on Mar-a-Lago, the “weaponization and politicization of federal instruments of power” and the “announcement of the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents” as grounds for Texas to secede. </p>
<p>During the week that followed the Mar-a-Lago search, FBI <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/12/fbi-threats-trump-search/">officials reported</a> numerous instances of individuals threatening FBI field offices, with some confrontations ending in violence. On Aug. 12, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fbi-dhs-warn-threats-federal-law-enforcement-spiked-wake-mar-lago-sear-rcna43024">joint bulletin</a> documenting an increase in violent threats to law enforcement and other government officials.</p>
<p>Message laundering does not always result in politically motivated violence, but it can make violence seem like a logical and reasonable response to partisan disagreement. Voters should be aware of this rhetorical tactic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karrin Vasby Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Threats to law enforcement have risen in the aftermath of the FBI raid on former President Trump’s Florida estate. Does ‘message laundering’ by top GOP figures have something to do with it?Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881092022-08-03T16:22:22Z2022-08-03T16:22:22ZWhy the Jan. 6 hearings should be making corporations nervous<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477264/original/file-20220802-14-fqz7jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5882%2C3465&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown as the House select committee holds hearings in June 2022 into the attack.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world is watching the Jan. 6 hearings in the United States in dismay and contemplating the possible <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-should-be-preparing-for-the-end-of-american-democracy-176930">end of the American democratic experiment</a>. </p>
<p>But we should also be thinking about the impact of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12627">democratic erosion</a> on corporations and other economic institutions that were built in — and thrived during — the last century.</p>
<p>The evidence unveiled at the hearings and by recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court suggests <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/09/is-the-us-really-heading-for-a-second-civil-war">another civil war in the U.S. is a real possibility</a>. </p>
<p>The Republican Party is intent on <a href="https://civilrights.org/trump-rollbacks/">rolling back</a> women’s rights, voting rights and other pillars of democratic governance in an attempt to grab and hold onto power. Republicans are even willing <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/09/1062683521/journalist-says-republicans-now-have-more-reliable-ways-to-overturn-election-res">to overturn free and fair elections</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2019.1593061">Political polarization</a>, conspiracy theories, the absence of facts and reason in public discourse and the presence of misinformation spreading through social media networks are all contributing to the demise of democracy in the U.S. Combine these with the rise of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/6/15/22522504/republicans-authoritarianism-trump-competitive">authoritarian rhetoric in the Republican Party</a> and there’s a lot to worry about.</p>
<p>It’s easy to view these problems as purely political dangers, but they also pose serious risks to the economic order that thrived because of the stability and freedom provided by democratic systems.</p>
<p>Why should the corporate world be worried?</p>
<h2>Wayfair slurs</h2>
<p>Consider Wayfair: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2021/wayfair-qanon-sex-trafficking-conspiracy/">In 2020, QAnon conspiracy theorists alleged that the online furniture retailer</a> used the cabinets they were selling to engage in child trafficking. </p>
<p>Once this <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/wayfair-child-trafficking-conspiracy-theory-tiktok-1028622/">absurd theory began to spread</a>, Wayfair saw a huge increase in negative engagements on Instagram and was forced to refute the wild claims. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Wayfair website with its purple logo is seen on a computer screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477232/original/file-20220802-14471-v15i0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Wayfair website is seen on a computer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jenny Kane)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When misinformation about a brand begins to circulate, a company is forced to spend time, money and resources disentangling itself from false accusations.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we live in a moment when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/20/facebook-disinformation-ottawa-social-media">social media companies profit from the spread of misinformation</a>. It’s only a matter of time before more companies will face the same problems Wayfair faced.</p>
<p>Being implicated in the kinds of culture wars ignited by far-right extremism can have chilling effects on both corporate culture and profit margins. </p>
<h2>Targeting education, science, diversity</h2>
<p>But the threats run deeper. </p>
<p>Authoritarian rhetoric has long targeted higher education, science, immigration and diversity as dangerous, as objects of derision and as the cause of social problems. <a href="https://www.tni.org/en/publication/understanding-and-challenging-authoritarianism">The purpose of authoritarian rhetoric is to foment distrust</a>, to make us wary of what we don’t know or understand, and to use that suspicion and skepticism to hold onto power. </p>
<p>The mRNA vaccines invented to fight COVID are an excellent example of this distrust being crystallized into a political position. The <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/is-the-covid19-vaccine-safe">Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are some of the safest</a> and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-powerful-technology-behind-the-pfizer-and-moderna-vaccines">most effective technologies</a> that we’ve ever been able to design and manufacture for preventing serious courses of a disease.</p>
<p>They are a shining example of the virtues of democratic societies and their emphasis on scientific progress. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccines-republicans.html">conservative politicians want us to distrust these inventions</a>, even though they represent the kind of scientific and technological innovation that has been at the core of the economic success of liberal democracies throughout the 20th century. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dose of vaccine is seen in silhouette against a blue background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477262/original/file-20220802-4891-s9uld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dose of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is prepared in Chicago in November 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Innovation drives economic success</h2>
<p>Economic growth and development depend on innovation, and innovation is made possible in systems that value knowledge, fair competition and open inquiry. </p>
<p>Simply put, the economic success of the U.S. in the last 100 years was made possible by innovation driven by scientific and technological research.</p>
<p>When we attack systems of higher education and other institutions of free inquiry, like the media, we cut off the engines of innovation that have been so deeply intertwined with liberal democracy. <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/article/new-report-authoritarian-rule-challenging-democracy-dominant-global-model">Authoritarians do this to grab and hold onto power</a>. If they succeed, the economic advantages accrued from rejecting authoritarianism are lost.</p>
<p>We also know that <a href="https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation">diversity facilitates innovation</a>. The creativity at the core of economies in liberal democracies is made possible by the mixing of diverse views, cultures, ideas and perspectives. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html">Google, Apple and other massively successful technology companies have studied the research on creative teams</a> and learned the importance of heterogeneity for team, and corporate, success. </p>
<p>Immigration has obviously been a fuel accelerating economic development in the U.S. for generations. </p>
<p>What happens when diversity is seen as a weakness or a danger? Not only will that mark a dramatic political transformation in the American system, it will also pose enduring limitations on economic growth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows a large room with American flags hanging over top and people sitting on wooden benches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477263/original/file-20220802-11403-kupuug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This 1924 photo shows the registry room at Ellis Island in New York harbour where some newcomers to the United States are gathered waiting to be processed by authorities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Democracy’s stability</h2>
<p>In this era of polarization, when anger, frustration and resentment permeate our politics, we ought to <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2019/study-democracy-fosters-economic-growth-acemoglu-0307">remember how beneficial the kinds of collaboration and stability provided by liberal democratic societies have been</a>. </p>
<p>Democracy has been a great political achievement, but it has also provided the fertile ground for economic innovation. As a system, democracy has driven the advancement of knowledge, the development of new technologies and has provided the freedom necessary for experimentation, entrepreneurship and invention. </p>
<p>We need champions of democracy, those who can successfully communicate its many benefits, now more than ever. We must be reminded of all that is gained from such systems — and all that might be lost if the next American election descends the country into chaos or civil war.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188109/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s easy to consider the erosion of democratic norms in the U.S. as purely political, but it poses serious risks to the country’s economic order. Is democracy in the gallows?Robert Danisch, Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777272022-07-18T13:56:25Z2022-07-18T13:56:25ZHackathons should be renamed to avoid negative connotations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454623/original/file-20220328-17-16qfxa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4368%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In hackathons, people come together to build more extensive and cohesive datasets.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Events where groups of people come together to create or improve software using large data sets are usually called hackathons. As health data researchers who want to build and maintain public trust, we recommend the use of alternative terms, such as datathon and code fest. </p>
<p>Hackathon is a portmanteau that combines the words “hack” and “marathon.” The “hack” in hackathon is meant to refer to a clever and improvised way of doing something rather than unauthorized computer or data access. From a computer scientist’s perspective, “hackathon” probably sounds innovative, intensive and maybe a little disruptive, but in a helpful rather than criminal way. </p>
<p>The issue is that members of the public do not interpret “hack” the way that computer scientists do. </p>
<p>Our team, and many others, have performed research studies to understand the public’s interests and concerns when health data are used for research and innovation. In all of these studies, we are not aware of any positive references to “hack” or related terms. But studies from <a href="https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20180099">Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.arc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/media/Resources/ARC/Digital%20Health/Citizen%20Juries/New%2012621_NIHR_Juries_Report_WEB.pdf">the United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13268">Australia</a> have all found that members of the public consistently raise hacking as a major concern for health data.</p>
<h2>Fear of hacking</h2>
<p>It is not hard to figure out where negative associations with the word “hack” come from. There is a regular stream of news headlines, like: “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/world/canada/newfoundland-cyberattack.html">As Hackers Take Down Newfoundland’s Health-Care System, Silence Descends</a>”; “<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/us-business/article-t-mobile-says-hackers-accessed-personal-data-of-another-53-million/">T-Mobile Says Hackers Accessed Personal Data of an Additional 5.3 Million Customers</a>”; and “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/vastaamo-psychotherapy-patients-hack-data-breach/">They Told Their Therapists Everything. Hackers Leaked It All</a>.”</p>
<p>Taking the research studies and news headlines together, there are strong reasons to think that the term hackathon will be perceived as negative to members of the public. Based on the common use and understanding of hacking, the term hackathon could even be perceived as threatening if it is misinterpreted as referring to an event where computer scientists do unauthorized things with data.</p>
<p>Language is important when talking about health data — it helps to create transparency and build trust around managing people’s information and privacy. As such, words must be chosen carefully, and should be guided by the preferences and concerns of the people whose data are being used for research and innovation.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plain-language-about-health-data-is-essential-for-transparency-and-trust-123319">Plain language about health data is essential for transparency and trust</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Alternatives to hackathon</h2>
<p>There are alternatives to the term hackathon, but they are used much less frequently. For example, a Google search conducted in July 2022 returned 58.7 million results for “hackathon” compared to 617,000 results for “datathon” and 54,700 results for “code fest.” There were more than 90 references to “hackathon” for every “datathon” reference that the Google search identified. </p>
<p>In the research literature there is a slightly higher frequency of alternative terms, but hackathon still dominates. For example, a July 2022 Google Scholar search identified 30 times more scholarly “hackathon” publications than there were “datathon” publications.</p>
<p>Widespread use of the term hackathon may be reinforced by software libraries and dictionaries that perpetuate outdated and harmful terminology. For example, in the current version of Microsoft Word, “hackathon” is a recognized word but “datathon” is flagged as a spelling mistake. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Justin Trudeau addresses a large group of university students in a tiered lecture hall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473754/original/file-20220713-16-i1b7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to students attending Hack The North, Canada’s largest hackathon, in Waterloo, Ont., on Sept. 15, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hannah Yoon</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trustworthy language</h2>
<p>We are not saying that hackathons are bad, just that the label most commonly used for them is problematic. And it’s not as though we lack alternatives to the term hackathon. Another way of looking at the Google search results is that the term datathon has been used hundreds of thousands of times, including by well-known organizations such as the <a href="https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon">EU Datathon</a>.</p>
<p>Given public concerns about hacking and data, we recommend that datathon and other alternatives to hackathon be used more often. Words matter and using language like datathon can help organizations that hold or provide access to data show that they are attentive to the concerns of the people and communities that the data is about.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>P. Alison Paprica receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and other provincial and federal Canadian research funders.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberlyn McGrail receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and other funding agencies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael J. Schull receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Ontario Ministry of Health.</span></em></p>“Hackathons” can imply breaching security and privacy. To more accurately reflect their creative and constructive intent, they can be referred to instead as “datathons” or “code fests.”P. Alison Paprica, Professor (adjunct) and Senior Fellow, Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of TorontoKimberlyn McGrail, Professor of Health Services and Policy Research, University of British ColumbiaMichael J. Schull, Professor, Department of Medicine, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1845972022-06-23T11:47:17Z2022-06-23T11:47:17ZLook at 3 enduring stories Americans tell about guns to understand the debate over them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470346/original/file-20220622-29730-oq3jle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C3%2C1016%2C702&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A family poses in front of their sod house in Custer County, Neb., in 1887.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/laforge-sod-house-home-south-of-west-union-custer-county-news-photo/514882604?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Bettmann via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States has struggled with <a href="https://theconversation.com/did-the-assault-weapons-ban-of-1994-bring-down-mass-shootings-heres-what-the-data-tells-us-184430">a spate of horrific mass shootings</a> – and will now need to grapple with the implications of the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf">striking down</a> New York’s restrictions on carrying concealed firearms, with consequences beyond the state. </p>
<p>After each tragedy with guns, people try to make sense of the violence <a href="https://theconversation.com/blaming-evil-for-mass-violence-isnt-as-simple-as-it-seems-a-philosopher-unpacks-the-paradox-in-using-the-word-184289">by talking</a> about what happened. The discussion usually gravitates toward two familiar poles: gun control on one end, and personal liberty on the other. But despite all the talk, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-gun-control-laws-dont-pass-congress-despite-majority-public-support-and-repeated-outrage-over-mass-shootings-183896">not much changes</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/people/gdickins/">We are scholars of communication</a> <a href="https://communication.missouristate.edu/bo443e.aspx">who study how rhetoric shapes politics and culture</a> – particularly how the stories Americans tell about the country and its past continue to shape the present. The nation’s failure to prevent such frequent mass shootings is, we suggest, partially a product of how American society commemorates and talks about guns.</p>
<h2>Imagining the ‘Wild West’</h2>
<p>An excellent example of how American culture tells the story of guns is <a href="https://centerofthewest.org/explore/firearms/">the Cody Firearms Museum</a> in Wyoming: home to “the most comprehensive collection of American firearms in the world” and subject of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2011.594068">an academic article</a> we coauthored with colleague <a href="https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/people/eaoki/">Eric Aoki</a> in 2011. We have continued this research as part of a book project.</p>
<p>Featuring more than 7,000 weapons, the museum is part of <a href="https://centerofthewest.org/">the Buffalo Bill Center of the West</a>. The center’s namesake, 19th-century rifleman <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/burbick.pdf">and showman</a> Buffalo Bill, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10570310500076684">popularized the story of the “Wild West</a>” that is still familiar to Americans today – one where guns were central.</p>
<p>Stories, of course, <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520001923/language-as-symbolic-action">are never neutral</a>. They include and exclude certain details; they highlight some aspects of a thing and downplay others. They distill the great complexity of our world into manageable and memorable bits that guide how we understand it.</p>
<p>An especially important kind of storytelling happens at museums. As historians <a href="https://rrchnm.org/">Roy Rosenzweig</a> and <a href="https://alliance.iu.edu/members/member/1142.html">David Thelen</a> explain, surveys show that <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-presence-of-the-past/9780231111485">people trust museums</a> more than family members, eyewitnesses, teachers and history textbooks.</p>
<p>So it matters what U.S. museums have to say about guns. Based on multiple research visits to the Cody Firearms Museum over the past decade, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2011.594068">we have identified three foundational narratives about guns</a> – stories that we argue get replayed in the present-day rhetoric about firearms.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A display case at the Cody Firearms Museum." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470344/original/file-20220622-39985-k6jyri.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guns are central to how Americans talk about the ‘Wild West.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Greg Dickinson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Story 1: Guns are tools</h2>
<p>One of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2011.594068">the key themes</a> at the Cody Firearms Museum was that guns were central to life on the frontier. Settlers had few possessions, and guns, which were necessary for hunting and fending off dangerous animals, were among the most common household items.</p>
<p>The view of guns as a daily tool remains prevalent today, usually through references to hunting. Emphasizing firearms’ role as a normal necessity to survive – even though so few people in the U.S. live that way today – “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24589296">domesticates” guns</a>, and many Americans continue to treat even assault rifles as ordinary objects of everyday life.</p>
<p>Consider <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1532397025156898816">recent comments</a> Colorado Rep. Ken Buck made to the House Judiciary Committee: “In rural Colorado, an AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens. It is a gun of choice for killing a fox. It is a gun that you control predators on your ranch, your farm, your property.”</p>
<p>Such talk domesticates assault rifles, depicting them as ordinary objects. But they are far from ordinary. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0205-7">One 2017 study</a> found that assault rifles and other high-capacity semiautomatics “account for 22% to 36% of crime guns, with some estimates upwards of 40% for cases involving serious violence including murders of police.” They are also used in up to 57% of mass murders involving firearms.</p>
<h2>Story 2: Guns are wonders</h2>
<p>A second key theme on display at the museum was that guns are technological marvels. Visitors could learn, often in painstaking detail, about each advancement in loading systems, ammunition cartridges and firing mechanisms. </p>
<p>Displays like these frame guns as inert objects of study and fascination, shifting attention from their function and purpose to their design and development. Moreover, the display of thousands of guns in glass cases, physically separated from human beings, turns them into objects that seem almost worthy of veneration.</p>
<p>The world of gun collecting strongly connects these admired objects to their owner’s identity. Like enthusiasts of any stripe, gun hobbyists view <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/si.1988.11.2.277">guns as collectibles</a>. According to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/">Pew Research Center</a> study, 66% of gun owners own multiple firearms, and 73% say they “could never see themselves not owning a gun.” </p>
<p>In short, guns are central to gun owners’ sense of self, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/">with half acknowledging that</a> “owning a gun is important to their overall identity.” Because gun hobbyists regard guns as collectibles, they often use rhetoric that treats guns as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-00673-x">inert objects</a> rather than machines engineered for violence.</p>
<p>For many gun owners, gun violence is a problem associated with “bad” actors, not guns. Following <a href="https://theconversation.com/accused-buffalo-mass-shooter-had-threatened-a-shooting-while-in-high-school-could-more-have-been-done-to-avert-the-tragedy-183455">the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York,</a>, podcaster Graham Allen <a href="https://www.tpusa.com/live/guns-dont-kill-people-bad-people-kill-people">wrote</a>: “Firearms are LIFELESS objects, they do not think, they do not feel, and they do not take a life on their own. Therefore you CANNOT hold an inanimate object accountable for the actions of the shooter.”</p>
<h2>Story 3: Guns are quintessentially American</h2>
<p>The third story American culture tells about guns is that they are <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/armed-america-the-remarkable-story-of-how-and-why-guns-became-as-american-as-apple-pie/oclc/71126665">central to what it means to be “American”</a>. They symbolize the myth of rugged individualism on which the country is founded. Guns are also associated with <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-myth-of-manifest-destiny/">Manifest Destiny</a>, the belief that white Americans were destined by God to violently “settle” the plains and “civilize” the West, expanding U.S. territory from coast to coast.</p>
<p>Guns served as the primary instrument for Westward expansion and the forced removal of Native Americans. As American studies scholar <a href="https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/rslotkin/profile.html">Richard Slotkin</a>’s work explains, many <a href="https://www.oupress.com/9780806130316/">iconic portrayals of the frontier</a> depict white colonizers doing what they believed to be “God’s work” with the help of their guns.</p>
<p>Today, national discourse still frames guns as part of a God-given right to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-backed-senate-candidate-blake-masters-blames-gun-violence-black-rcna32290">eliminate “threats”</a> in <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Ted-Cruz-confronted-at-Houston-restaurant-17205943.php">a world full of dangerous people</a>. The National Rifle Association has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0276-z">used religiously infused language</a> to argue for gun rights, such as its president, Wayne LaPierre, <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/nra-president-second-amendment-granted-by-god-americans-birthright.html">saying in 2018 that</a> the right to bear arms is “granted by God to all Americans as our American birthright.” </p>
<p>In these arguments, gun ownership is a way of expressing a deep and <a href="https://www.oupress.com/9780806130316/">long-held American desire</a> to protect oneself, one’s family and one’s property. Crime <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.03.029">data</a>, however, suggests that self-defense with guns is rare, used by victims in 1% or fewer of “crimes in which there is personal contact between the perpetrator and victim” or robbery and nonsexual assault. Meanwhile, owning guns increases other dangers like accidental shooting and <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/06/handgun-ownership-associated-with-much-higher-suicide-risk.html">gun-related suicide</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://people.healthsciences.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=75145">Joseph Pierre</a>, a psychiatrist at the University of California, Los Angeles, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0373-z">has written</a> that while fear may be the main cited reason for owning a gun, ownership is also strongly associated with fear of the loss of control. Seventy-four percent of gun owners say the right to own guns is essential to their sense of freedom, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/">according to a Pew survey</a>.</p>
<h2>From talk to action – or inaction</h2>
<p>How people talk about an object influences how they understand and see it. And once that view hardens into an attitude, it significantly impacts future action.</p>
<p>In the firearms museum, and American culture more broadly, guns are portrayed as utilitarian tools of daily life, venerated objects of technological progress and symbols of what it means to be American.</p>
<p>These stories continue to shape and constrain how America talks and thinks about guns, and help explain why gun policy in the U.S. looks the way it does.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184597/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ways Americans talk about firearms is full of contradictions, two communication scholars explain – and that powerfully shapes the country’s approach to gun policy.Greg Dickinson, Professor of Rhetoric and Memory, Colorado State UniversityBrian L. Ott, Professor of Communication, Missouri State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1822162022-06-16T17:24:58Z2022-06-16T17:24:58ZYour past is my present – how Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467252/original/file-20220606-20-pr3x7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5963%2C3963&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress on March 16, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaUkraineWarCryptocurrencyDonations/3b2b9f7943c94d3498a8775c31a65ebe/photo">Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since Russia’s war against his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has directly addressed the elected representatives of multiple countries in his quest for international support. These speeches have made explicit references to parallels between his country’s current plight and the particular historical experiences of these nations. </p>
<p>This strategy is one of many that Zelenskyy has employed to successfully build international support for Ukraine. As scholars of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=RHXgn2sAAAAJ">post-Soviet politics</a> and the use of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LvQBbVcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">historical memory</a>, we think Zelenskyy’s addresses help garner global support in three key ways: He evokes popular empathy for the Ukrainian people, enables foreign governments to assess their people’s interest in supporting Ukraine, and highlights the importance of territorial sovereignty to world peace.</p>
<h2>References to historical parallels</h2>
<p>Each of Zelenskyy’s speeches included historical references deliberately tailored to resonate with the people of the nation he was addressing at the time.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtDifMeMC68&t=1s">his speech to the German Bundestag</a>, for instance, he referred to the German people as standing behind a wall “between freedom and slavery.” That powerfully evoked the Berlin Wall’s division of post-World War II Germany into two countries, one aligned with the democratic West, and the other with the communist East.</p>
<p>He also reached farther back, referring to the “historical responsibility” of the German people, and making repeated references to the suffering endured by millions of Europeans during World War II because of the Nazi regime’s aggressive territorial expansion and genocidal atrocities. These references might have been particularly potent given Zelenskyy’s own Jewish heritage. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt_CPMYawQs&t=1s">speaking to the Israeli Knesset</a>, Zelenskyy compared the current suffering and forced migration of his people to the experiences of the European Jewish community in the 1930s and 1940s, including fleeing the Holocaust. Specifically he said the Ukrainian “people are now scattered around the world. They are looking for security. They are looking for a way to stay in peace. As you once searched.” </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6viGEEi7JjU">addressing the U.S. Congress</a>, Zelenskyy referred to the horrors of unprovoked aggression from hostile foreign forces at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11. He highlighted how these sudden and unanticipated attacks wreaked havoc on the lives of “innocent people.”</p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-ukrayini-volodimira-zelenskogo-do-parl-73441">speaking to the British Parliament</a>, he quoted one of <a href="https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches.html">Winston Churchill’s most memorable speeches</a>, delivered at a time when Britain was threatened by, and successfully resisted, an expansionist power – Nazi Germany. Zelenskyy then added his own twist, saying “<a href="https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches.html">We shall fight in the seas</a>, we shall fight in the air, we shall defend our land, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight in the woods, in the fields, on the beaches, in the cities and villages, in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-ukrayini-volodimira-zelenskogo-do-parl-73441">And I want to add</a>: we shall fight on the spoil tips, on the banks of the Kalmius and the Dnieper! And we shall not surrender!”</p>
<h2>Appeal to emotions</h2>
<p>These historical parallels were intended to appeal to his audiences’ emotions, with the intent of inspiring popular empathy abroad. While <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-25-op-27057-story.html">politicians have long evoked history in their rhetoric</a>, Zelenskyy’s use of history is distinct given its variety and intended audience. His goal was not to rally his own people, but to build an international coalition of support.</p>
<p>His historical references tapped into different sentiments in different countries – trauma in the United States and Israel, shame and guilt in Germany, pride in the United Kingdom. But the underlying goal in each instance was to compel the people of these countries to recall their own pasts so that they could sympathize with the pain and suffering of the Ukrainian people today.</p>
<p>In addition, his appeals prompted broader conversations in the media and among the public, revealing popular sentiment toward the conflict and allowing leaders to gauge reactions to the possibility of their country’s increased involvement. Where people were more receptive to Zelenskyy’s historical parallels, leaders could feel more confident that their policies supporting Ukraine would receive broad popular support. </p>
<p>The appeal of his message in Germany seemed clear when the Bundestag’s <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/zelenskyy-speech-sparks-soul-search-germany/">immediate transition to other matters of state following Zelenskyy’s speech drew public outrage</a>. Since then, Germany has <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-germany-supplying-howitzers-antiaircraft/31837562.html">continued to increase its assistance</a>.</p>
<p>Zelenskyy’s address to the U.S. Congress evoked concern and empathy for the Ukrainian people among both <a href="https://time.com/6157965/zelensky-congress-speech-aid/">elected representatives</a> and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pain-frustration-hope-americans-react-zelenskyy-plea-83488052">the public</a>. Within hours of this speech, <a href="https://time.com/6157965/zelensky-congress-speech-aid/">President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million package of military support for Ukraine</a>.</p>
<p>There was <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/polling-ukraine-support-for-sanctions-and-governments-handling-grows">popular support for Ukraine among the U.K. public even prior to Zelenskyy’s speech</a>. Leading up to the speech, the government <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-03-11/britain-johnson-response-ukraine-war-refugees-sanctions">was criticized for not doing enough to help Ukrainian refugees</a>. Two days after the speech, the U.K. government <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorial/the-irish-times-view-on-britain-s-ukraine-response-we-ll-help-but-please-stay-away-1.4823686">announced an overhaul of the visa application process for Ukrainian refugees</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man on a video screen addresses a room full of people." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467290/original/file-20220606-20-mhr8qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the British Parliament on March 8, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelensky-addresses-mps-in-the-news-photo/1239027760">House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, Zelenskyy’s attempts to draw connections between the current situation in Ukraine and the Holocaust <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjn3nxbf5">drew criticism</a> from <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/zelensky-sparks-indignation-israel-infuriating-holocaust-comparison-1689850">across the political spectrum in Israel</a>. Israel’s support for Ukraine has been relatively <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/israels-support-of-ukraine-alliance-isrisky-but-unavoidable/2022/05/03/759e8378-caaf-11ec-b7ee-74f09d827ca6_story.html">muted and cautious</a>. The poor reception of this historical analogy played into <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/report-russia-middle-east-national-security-challenges-united-states-and-israel-biden">Israel’s reluctance to support Ukraine</a>. </p>
<h2>A key shared ideal</h2>
<p>Perhaps Zelenskyy’s best rhetorical tactic was his appeal to the liberal ideals of the post-World War II order. By threatening Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, Russia has also threatened a foundational principle of the largely peaceful era since 1945 – a country’s sovereignty. </p>
<p>He used this shared value in different ways. For example, he reminded Americans when their <a href="https://www.nps.gov/perl/index.htm">territorial security was compromised</a> and the British when theirs was <a href="https://worldwar2.org.uk/the-battle-of-britain">preserved through resistance</a>. But the goal was the same – to unite and mobilize international support behind his nation in an otherwise fractured global environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>History brought Ukraine’s plight home to people around the world, and helped mobilize political and military support against the Russian invasion.Anil Menon, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, University of MichiganPauline Jones, Professor of Political Science, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1793492022-03-16T17:01:43Z2022-03-16T17:01:43Z‘I have a need’: How Zelenskyy’s plea to Congress emphasized shared identity with US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452529/original/file-20220316-8416-ew55ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=163%2C128%2C7394%2C4999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the U.S. Congress.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-delivers-a-virtual-news-photo/1385713939?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Speaking from his nation’s capital of Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-winston-churchill-congress-af1578f966e3e8feda02659740c8fba1">addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress</a> as Russian <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kyiv-struck-by-russian-shelling-ukraine-says-least-two-killed-2022-03-15/">shells continue to bombard the city</a>.</p>
<p>In the historic event on March 16, 2022, Zelenskyy sought to persuade U.S. legislators and the American public of the similarities between U.S. history and Ukraine’s present.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-zelenskyys-selfie-videos-are-helping-ukraine-win-the-pr-war-against-russia-178117">savvy communicator</a>, Zelenskyy understands that before a speaker can argue for policy changes – in this case, stronger action from the U.S. against Russian aggression – they must create a shared identity with the audience. In many ways, every successful political speech is an exercise in community building.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/people/karrin/">political communication scholar</a>, I study what makes political messages persuasive and how strategic communication does more than just argue for policy – it creates individual and group identities. </p>
<p>This principle has been known for decades. Writing in the immediate aftermath of World War II, communication scholar Kenneth Burke challenged the assumption that successful persuasion was premised on constructing sound arguments. Instead, he said the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Rhetoric_of_Motives/y44o7549eC8C?hl=en">key to persuasion is “identification”</a> – convincing the audience that you and they have not only common interests, but a shared identity.</p>
<p>Zelenskyy intuited the importance of identification, beginning his speech with a list of similarities between “brave and freedom loving” Americans and Ukrainians. He compared the Russian invasion of Ukraine to calamities in U.S. history such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He also invoked symbols like Mount Rushmore and famous U.S. speeches, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. </p>
<p>Addressing both Congress and the American public, he noted that the words “I have a dream” are “known to each of you” and then echoed King, imploring: “I have a need.” It was a tacit but forceful argument about being on the right side of history.</p>
<h2>‘This is murder’</h2>
<p>Zelenskyy’s speech marked the first time a world leader addressed a joint session of Congress remotely, and he used the digital medium to his advantage, including in his speech a video documenting Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian cities and the violence experienced by Ukraine’s most vulnerable citizens – particularly children. The words “this is murder” flashed on the screen.</p>
<p>When juxtaposed with the murder of children, Zelenskyy’s requests – that the U.S. establish a <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-wants-a-no-fly-zone-what-does-this-mean-and-would-one-make-any-sense-in-this-war-179282">no-fly zone</a> over Ukraine or facilitate the use of fighter jets – seem not only reasonable but imperative. This was not a deliberative message weighing the advantages and risks of potential policy proposals. It was an impassioned plea to act on behalf of shared humanity.</p>
<p>It puts President Joe Biden and members of Congress in a difficult position. They have to weigh the likely outcomes of Zelenskyy’s requests and are operating within a framework that emphasizes policy implications rather than one that focuses primarily on shared identity. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki emphasized on Feb. 28 that a no-fly zone would entail “<a href="https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1498349877620793347">shooting down planes, Russian planes</a>,” and would dangerously escalate the conflict. Critics argue that a direct, military engagement with Russian forces also would <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22967674/russia-ukraine-no-fly-zone-limited-nuclear-war">increase the likelihood of nuclear war</a>.</p>
<p>Because identification is more persuasive than policy arguments, however, Zelenskyy’s speech will <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/15/zelensky-joint-session-congress-biden/">place maximum pressure on Democrats</a>, in particular, since they control Congress and the presidency. He also acknowledged a compromise position in his remarks, saying that if a no-fly zone was “too much to ask, we offer an alternative,” requesting more weapons that would enable Ukrainian forces to shoot down Russian aircraft.</p>
<h2>A speech for a digital age</h2>
<p>Zelenskyy’s message, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2022/03/09/volodymyr-zelensky-social-media-ukraine-todd-dnt-intl-tsr-vpx.cnn">like his communication throughout the conflict</a>, was produced for the social media era, with numerous quotable lines and a video that appeared to be designed to make the rounds on Twitter, Facebook and TikTok. Zelenskyy’s approach aims to provide ordinary citizens with content they can use easily on social media to pressure their political representatives. </p>
<p>Zelenskyy ended his speech with a vision for a community of democratic nations and a governing body he’s calling “U24,” which he defined as a “union of responsible countries” nimble enough to respond to crises within 24 hours.</p>
<p>His speech was not only an impassioned plea for immediate assistance. It was an attempt to create a new community more expansive and powerful than NATO or the United Nations.</p>
<p>Understanding Americans’ desire to maintain their status as the ostensible “leader of the free world,” Zelenskyy concluded by addressing Biden directly, saying, “I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karrin Vasby Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a speech that touched on America’s darkest days and most inspirational leaders, Ukraine’s embattled president made a powerful call for stronger action on Russia.Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1772762022-03-01T15:49:05Z2022-03-01T15:49:05Z7 ways to spot polarizing language — how to choose responsibly what to amplify online or in-person<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448711/original/file-20220227-31933-egp9tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C134%2C4992%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The impacts of our words should be of greater concern in our political discourse. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Words <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08730-6.html">have consequences</a>. They can make us feel love, anger, fear, hope. Those emotions, depending on how strongly they’re felt, can incite actions. </p>
<p>Communication scholars, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3886104">ancient rhetoricians</a>, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fighting_words">legal scholars</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01277">psychologists</a> have all studied some of the most basic pathways along which words do their work — how love is sustained in lasting relationships, how political leaders rally troops to war, how treaties are made or conflict de-escalated. </p>
<p>The effect of words is both a concern in our interpersonal and social interactions, in which small acts of incivility can leave us <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janbruce/2019/05/02/why-is-everyone-so-angry-and-anxious/?sh=5f374a8918e1">feeling anxious and angry</a>, and in our political discourse, where some Canadians worry about <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/01/27/opinion/anti-vaxxer-truck-convoy-signals-insidious-spread-trumpism-canada">whether Trumpist rhetoric is making Canada feel like a more polarized and dangerous place</a>.</p>
<h2>At the grocery store, political protests</h2>
<p>Whether we are talking about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/business/customer-service-pandemic-rage.html">civic rudeness at the grocery store</a> where strangers seem more inclined to insult or offend one another — <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/asian-man-berated-in-montreal-grocery-store-by-woman-angry-about-covid-19-1.5728844">including in racist ways, as evidenced by a spike in anti-Asian racism</a> during the pandemic — or how we conduct ourselves in political protest, the rhetorical techniques likely to amplify conflict and tension are relatively easy to spot.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/04/09/how-hateful-rhetoric-connects-to-real-world-violence/">Violent rhetoric inspires violent action</a> — maybe not all of the time, but violent rhetoric is the surest pathway to violent action. This is true all along the continuum from interpersonal relationships to political rallies. </p>
<p>When deciding what to amplify online or in civic discourse, we can improve how we contribute constructively to our society’s fragile social predicament if we’re aware of the most prominent seven rhetorical tactics that are likely to amplify polarization, leading to anger and potentially violence. Research shows that divisive, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820952795">violent, dehumanizing rhetoric</a> can sanction negative or hateful views that people may otherwise have hidden, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2021.2018089">and embolden people to act</a> on these. </p>
<p>What’s worse, these seven rhetorical tactics tend to beget one another and inspire a communication cycle in which emotions are amplified and conflict is escalated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protesters are seen in a crowd beside a truck, and one is giving the driver the finger while another holds a sign that says 'truck off and go home.' " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448714/original/file-20220227-31841-11g3yfi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A resident gestures at the driver of a pick-up truck in Ottawa on Feb. 13.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv7yo9mreXg">Division/Identification</a>:</strong> We often try to understand the world by looking for similarities and differences. This tendency manifests itself in communication when we try to draw a clear line between <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/08/us-vs-them-the-sinister-techniques-of-othering-and-how-to-avoid-them">an “us” and a “them.”</a> We then look to strengthen these divisions by celebrating what “we” stand for and denigrating what “they” believe in — liberal versus conservative, left versus right, and so on. These divisions can leave people feeling a stronger sense of identification with their in-group and a stronger hatred for the out-group. Any time we hear someone use “us/them” language, we ought to pause to recognize that this division is a rhetorical invention — and we ought to ask what kinds of work this invention is designed to do. </p>
<p><strong>2. Hyperbole:</strong> This word <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/hyperbole">comes from the Greek for “overthrown” (as in a ball launched too far to be caught)</a>. Hyperbole is a creative inaccuracy meant to exaggerate or highlight some property of an event or person in order to intensify some feelings. This is the favoured technique of the internet troll. Exaggeration can drive attention because of the ways in which emotions are amplified. When hyperbole is combined with “us/them” rhetoric then you are certainly on a pathway to violence. Hyperbole does not lead to rational deliberation; it’s not intended to have that effect. If your child tells you it’s the worst day of their life because of homework, or if a political commentator suggests that <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/14/canada-emergency-measures-political-firestorm-00008896">the Liberals use of the Emergencies Act is an unprecedented over-reach of government power</a>, both are committing hyperbole to get your attention and amplify your emotions.</p>
<p><strong>3. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/05/19/this-is-not-equal-to-that-how-false-equivalence-clouds-our-judgment/?sh=390b5ad75c0f">False equivalence</a>/false analogy:</strong> American entrepreneur <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/elon-musk-tweets-then-deletes-meme-comparing-trudeau-hitler-2022-02-17/">Elon Musk recently compared Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler.</a> This is a false analogy. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/vaccine-protesters-holocaust-comparisons-1.6175321">Vaccine protestors comparing their treatment to Jewish people during the Holocaust is a false equivalence</a>. Like hyperbole, these are exaggerated attempts to amplify feelings of division and stoke emotions. To argue against the comparison between Trudeau and Hitler will only further amplify emotions because the comparison starts from a position of unreason. A false equivalence is a sure sign that the speaker wants conflict and wants to heighten emotions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1496124870006034433"}"></div></p>
<p><strong>4. Appealing to force:</strong> Arguments that appeal to force or threat — in the western rhetorical tradition called “<a href="https://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/force.html">ad baculum</a>” arguments, from the Latin that means “<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/appeal-to-force-fear-250346">appeal to the stick</a>” — are the most obvious form of communication that can lead to violence. When we threaten someone, whether we tell our child we’ll spank them if they don’t go to bed or our political opponent that we’ll ruin their career if they don’t vote a certain way, we have abandoned any attempt to persuade and instead are trying to force compliance. Words, in these cases, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/19/958472423/how-president-trumps-rhetoric-has-affected-u-s-politics">are weapons, directly intended to exert power</a>. </p>
<p><strong>5. Name calling:</strong> Calling someone names instead of engaging their arguments —
or taking an “<a href="https://ethics.org.au/ethics-explainer-ad-hominem-fallacy/">ad hominem</a>” (Latin meaning “for the man”) approach — is another way of amplifying conflict and creating a pathway to violence. My <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-should-be-preparing-for-the-end-of-american-democracy-176930">last article in <em>The Conversation</em></a> produced a string of emails calling me a range of nasty names: libtard, cuck, fascist, soyboy, Marxist, etc. None of the name calling engages substantive reasons or arguments, but instead simply aims to amplify feelings and conflict. </p>
<p><strong>6. Objectification:</strong> When we treat other people as objects, beasts or vermin instead of people, we make it easier to commit violent acts against them. Former President Trump did <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-44148697">this repeatedly by comparing immigrants to animals</a>; men do it to women when they describe women only in terms of sexualized body parts. This is the process of <a href="https://theconversation.com/donald-trump-and-the-dangerous-rhetoric-of-portraying-people-as-objects-66810">reification</a>, and it steals from other people their humanity and complexity in order to amplify emotional disdain.</p>
<p><strong>7. Overgeneralization:</strong> This is a distorted way of thinking that draws conclusions that are too broad to be justified. Any time someone says a version of <a href="https://academy4sc.org/video/stereotype-threat-the-dangers-of-overgeneralizations/">“All X is Y,” we have an overgeneralization that cannot possibly be right</a>. The purpose of this kind of distorted thinking and communication is to advance a particular position that often strengthens an us/them division and amplifies emotions directed toward whoever the speaker is generalizing about. </p>
<p>In all of these cases, these forms of communication seek to get our attention, make us feel some emotion more strongly, lead us away from reason and deliberation and lay the groundwork for fear and aggression. </p>
<p>If we learn how to disengage from communication circuits that lay the groundwork for fear and aggression — whether by carefully choosing how to respond to social media content or what to share online, or the language we choose in our personal and civic interactions — we have a better chance of amplifying dialogue that is constructive and does not fuel polarization and potentially violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>If we learn how to disengage from communication circuits that lay the groundwork for fear and aggression, we have a better chance of managing conflict constructively.Robert Danisch, Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1745082022-01-06T20:06:36Z2022-01-06T20:06:36ZBiden urges America to see the truth of Jan. 6 – and understand its place in history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439733/original/file-20220106-25-m74w23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4477%2C2969&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Delivered under the eyes of history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotAnniversary/5d4dd770afb44fc6baf134073966c5de/photo?Query=biden&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=67394&currentItemNo=37">Jabin Botsford//The Washington Post via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>President Joe Biden closed his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/06/us/jan-6-capitol-riot">speech commemorating and deploring</a> the events of Jan. 6, 2021, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/full-transcript-biden-harris-speak-capitol-hill-jan/story?id=82110360">by asking God</a> to “bless those who stand watch over democracy.”</p>
<p>To “stand watch” is to stand guard, but as a metaphor, it runs deeper. To stand watch on a ship is to keep out a weather eye – to keep an eye on the sea and sky for potential danger. In this larger sense, Biden’s address called on Americans to see the plain truth, to bear witness to the violence of Jan. 6 and survey the coming threats.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://communication.illinois.edu/directory/profile/jmmurphy">scholar of presidential rhetoric</a>, I pay attention to metaphors because they often reveal a lot about the ideas, values and beliefs of particular chief executives and, indeed, of the nation as a whole.</p>
<h2>Believe with your own eyes</h2>
<p>Biden’s speech of Jan. 6, 2022, is of interest not only because of the circumstances that led to its being necessary, but also because of the visual language it employed. </p>
<p>The speech expressed a powerful faith in the plain truth. It asked Americans to believe their own eyes. That reflects a long philosophical tradition in Western culture equating sight or light with the truth. Yet there’s always been a countertradition, one that assumes real power lies in the shadows, conspires behind the curtains.</p>
<p>Former President Donald Trump’s fondness for conspiracies is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-jan-6-election-lie/2022/01/05/82f4cad4-6cb6-11ec-974b-d1c6de8b26b0_story.html">well known</a> – it was evident in his <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/29/16713664/trump-obama-birth-certificate">pushing of the Obama “birther” lie</a> and his reluctance to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/15/qanon-trump-refuses-disavow-conspiracy-theory-town-hall">disavow the QAnon conspiracy</a>. </p>
<p>It has also shaped the view of many in his party that the 2020 election was somehow “stolen.” </p>
<p>In his speech, President Biden sought to disinfect the body politic with the light of truth. He did so in several ways.</p>
<p>Biden shaped the nation’s memory of Jan. 6 by what Americans saw that day. It was a violent attack, he said, an effort to overturn a fair election and overthrow American democracy. </p>
<p>To make that definition vivid, he repeatedly urged audience members, “Close your eyes,” asking them to see again what people saw that day. A mob dragging, stomping, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/officer-crushed-capitol-riot-video/index.html">attacking police officers</a>. Rioters using <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/news/544127-ex-green-beret-charged-for-throwing-flag-pole-like-spear-at-capitol-police">flagpoles as spears</a>. Confederate flags in Statuary Hall. A <a href="https://www.ourquadcities.com/news/national-news/capitol-mob-built-gallows-and-chanted-hang-mike-pence/">gallows on the Capitol lawn</a>, readied for the vice president of the United States.</p>
<p>Recognize that violence for what it was, Biden urged. Ignore the excuses that have been made since. See the truth.</p>
<h2>‘Dagger at the throat of democracy’</h2>
<p>Not only did the president ask the nation to see Jan. 6 clearly, he also asked us to understand its place in history.</p>
<p>Biden asked the audience to look at <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/about-national-statuary-hall-collection">Statuary Hall</a>, the chamber within the U.S. Capitol from which Biden spoke. It wasn’t just a convenient backdrop for his address. It is a record of history, symbolized by the <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/car-history-clock">statue of Clio</a>, the classical muse of history, who stood watch over the Capitol and recorded all that happened there.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Carlo Franzoni's 1819 sculptural figure of Clio is seen above a clock in the National Statuary Hall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439743/original/file-20220106-17-z1x6zv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clio, the muse of history, hovers over the National Statuary Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FranzoniClock.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>History saw Confederate flags and knew they had never appeared before in this sacred space. History saw police dying in defense of the Capitol and knew that had never happened before in this space. History saw, in Biden’s words, “a dagger at the throat” of democracy – a powerful visual image.</p>
<p>History saw the facts – they were plain and clear for all to see. The former <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/12/08/fact-check-president-donald-trump-did-not-win-2020-election/6467942002/">president was defeated</a>. He lost by millions of votes. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/judges-trump-election-lawsuits/2020/12/12/e3a57224-3a72-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html">Republican judges and politicians</a> rejected his conspiracies. </p>
<p>This is the visual language of democracy. Democracies, Biden asserted, face their problems and recognize reality. They do not fall victim to shadows or what Biden described as Trump’s “big lie.” The truth is right there for all Americans to see, plain and clear. </p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174508/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M. Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rioters at the Capitol represented a ‘dagger against the throat’ of American democracy, President Biden said in an address laden with imagery.John M. Murphy, Professor of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1691502021-10-06T13:48:33Z2021-10-06T13:48:33ZBoris Johnson fails the ‘showman-to-statesman’ test in party conference speech<p>Boris Johnson is not unfamiliar with taking the platform at Conservative party conferences. Indeed this is a man who has crashed into and then crashed out of a succession of conferences – usually with a combination of befuddled bamboozlement and buffoonery – generally to the joy of the expectant media but to the chagrin of whoever has been prime minister at the time. </p>
<p>But this year was clearly very different. Johnson, the infamous “<a href="https://blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/expertcomment/boris-johnson-clown-or-joker/">joker in the pack</a>” or “<a href="https://theconversation.com/prime-minister-boris-johnson-the-jester-has-taken-the-throne-120532">clown prince of Westminster</a>” was making his first conference address to the party as prime minister. </p>
<p>Conference speeches are, of course, as much about political theatre and performance as they are about content and detail. The challenge for Johnson is that he is too well known for theatre and performance, and too often offbeat when it comes to content and detail. Fate has also so far defined his premiership in terms of crisis management – first in relation to dealing with the UK’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0032321719836356">Brexistential angst</a>, secondly in relation to dealing with <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pa/article/74/2/483/5861499">the COVID pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>So far, he has therefore been a highly “exceptional” prime minister operating in highly exceptional times. The great benefit of working in crisis conditions for any politician is that personal indiscretions and a degree of free-wheeling are, to some extent, overlooked. The same is true when it comes to the absence of any clear and coherent domestic vision. “We are in the middle of a crisis!” can quieten even the most ardent critic. </p>
<p>But as Johnson stepped onto the stage he was at one and the same time as powerful as he had ever been and as weak as he had ever been. He is powerful in the sense that he commands a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50776671">loyal majority</a> in parliament, has just completed a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58574180">position-bolstering reshuffle</a>, and remains well ahead of the Labour party in terms of current <a href="https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/">public voter-intentions</a>. But he’s weak in the sense that he is now totally exposed. Without the loud din and immediate chaos created by crises he must clearly demonstrate a capacity to govern. </p>
<p>This was conference crunch time and the key question was whether Johnson could convince a global audience that he can be a serious politician. The pre-event media smoke-signalling certainly tried to frame a very new brand of blond ambition. Reports teased this as a speech in which Johnson would show himself as a grown up able to lead a government with the “guts” <a href="https://www.gbnews.uk/news/conservative-conference-boris-johnson-to-promise-long-overdue-economic-change-of-direction/136958">to tackle</a> “the problems that no government has had the guts to tackle before”.</p>
<p>This speech was not so much about a change of direction for the government as an attempt by the prime minister to convince his party and the public that he could be a competent leader. So how did he do?</p>
<p>Not well. The core essence of “build back better” was lost in a sea of jokes and jape. The United States is accepting British beef: “Build back burgers!” Wildlife is returning to the countryside: “Build back beaver!”</p>
<p>This was less of a coherent speech and more of a frantic diatribe delivered at such a pace that the audience looked bemused at the spectacle unfolding before them. One minute the prime minister was talking about having “his chestnuts pulled out of a tartarian pit” the next about the delights of the village of Stoke Poges. He threw in references to fibre optic vermicelli, monkey glands, coagulated roundabouts, royal jelly and pensive quills. At one point he seemed to suggest the direction the country was going in had something to do with the need to urinate in bushes. </p>
<p>As for “the big idea”, levelling up was certainly talked up. It was “the greatest project any governemnt can embark on”. Nothing more, nothing less. His last major policy statement on the levelling agenda was <a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/blog/boris-johnsons-levelling-up-speech/">decried</a> by many commentators for an almost complete <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-prime-ministers-levelling-up-speech-15-july-2021">lack of substance</a>. This time, so many substantive policies were placed within the protean project that is levelling-up that it became almost impossible to see what is was not. </p>
<p>It’s crime reduction, transport, digital infrastructure, home ownership, skills. And most of all it’s capitalism. An adviser had obviously suggested that levelling up could do with a dose of intellectual inspiration and suddenly Johnson used his conference speech to mention that he’d remembered a book by the 17th century economist Vilfredo Pareto that seemed to be relevant. </p>
<p>By the end of the speech the audience appeared almost stunned into silence. Is this what it looks like when the prime minister demonstrates his capacity to govern? The rictus smiles on the faces of his cabinet colleagues arguably revealed far more than the speech had done. What was promised was an agenda for change – detailed, clear and precise. What was delivered was a cacophony of clichés and very poor jokes. </p>
<p>If this was “the showman to statesman test” then Boris failed miserably. He finished with a flop that was almost deafening. He is more exposed than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Flinders does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Billed as a speech from a leader making daring decisions to fix the nation, the prime minister’s conference appearance rapidly descended into jokes about beavers.Matthew Flinders, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1560842021-08-05T12:48:12Z2021-08-05T12:48:12ZTracking anniversaries of Black deaths isn’t memorializing victims – it’s objectifying them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407057/original/file-20210617-23-axhj05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=245%2C122%2C5095%2C3202&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mural depicting Breonna Taylor is seen being painted at Chambers Park on July 5, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-an-aerial-view-from-a-drone-a-large-scale-ground-mural-news-photo/1254442984?adppopup=true">Patrick Smith/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>National <a href="https://nationaldaycalendar.com/march-13-2020-national-good-samaritan-day-national-blame-someone-else-day-national-k9-veterans-day-national-jewel-day-national-open-an-umbrella-indoors-day/">Good Samaritan Day</a> fell on March 13 and commemorates those who have helped a person in need. This year, March 13 also marked one year since <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html">Louisville police officers killed Breonna Taylor</a> during a botched raid on her apartment. </p>
<p>And in 2020 former Minneapolis police officer <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/20/987777911/court-says-jury-has-reached-verdict-in-derek-chauvins-murder-trial">Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd</a> on Memorial Day, when we honor Americans who died while serving in the U.S. military. </p>
<p>As an aspiring opinion writer, I’ve been taught to track such anniversaries because they are news pegs, an event that can be used as a reason to do a story that capitalizes on public attention. </p>
<p>But as a <a href="https://www.geneseo.edu/communication/lee-pierce">scholar of rhetoric and race</a>, I have a competing perspective. </p>
<p>If the way people write and speak about the world creates a sense of good and bad, right and wrong, then the concept of tracking these tragedies is already complicit with what <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/dark-matters">the writer and educator Simone Brown calls</a> “the surveillance of Blackness” – the disproportionate monitoring and punishing of Black Americans. </p>
<p>Those stories routinize systemic violence through their repetition. It’s what the political philosopher Hannah Arendt <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/02/16/eichmann-in-jerusalem-i">called</a> “the banality of evil.”</p>
<h2>Systemic violence made ordinary</h2>
<p>If someone is writing about the best gifts for Mother’s Day, I see no problem with tracking news pegs.</p>
<p>But if they’re writing about the deaths of people at the hands of police, perhaps a different approach is needed.</p>
<p>The pressure is understandable for writers to capitalize on the public attention that swells on the anniversaries of the deaths of Taylor, Floyd and hundreds of others. </p>
<p>One alternative to the news hook approach is just to take the word “new” more seriously. Instead of news hooks, writers could aim for what rapper Kid Cudi calls “dat new new,” something fresh and unanticipated. In the wake of Taylor’s killing, for example, a pro-gun control opinion piece might be reinvented as the idea that <a href="https://www.essence.com/op-ed/black-women-bearing-arms/">gun reform is a double-edged sword for Black America</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Find a dock’</h2>
<p>I admit to perpetuating the news hook, not only in my own attempts at public writing but in my teaching as well. </p>
<p>I was just following the advice that I had received. </p>
<p>“Your story is a ship,” I’ve been told, “and news pegs are potential ports for that ship. Keep sailing your ship until you find a dock.” Translation: Keep pegging your story to an anniversary until you get published. </p>
<p>The ship metaphor operates on the assumption that an idea precedes the occasion that it describes and, therefore, that ideas exist apart from the concrete events that they are supposed to explain.</p>
<p>By that logic, the idea of police reform as a story focus exists before and outside of Taylor’s death. Taylor is the hook, just another example of why police reform is important.</p>
<p>When the specific “hook” that is Taylor’s death doesn’t have a chance to prompt a story on its own, Taylor is objectified on the anniversary of her death just as she was on the day of her death. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Marchers walk by a mural of George Floyd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407061/original/file-20210617-14-1i2z3gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marchers walk past a mural of George Floyd painted on a wall along Colfax Avenue on June 7, 2020, in Denver, Colorado.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/marchers-walk-by-a-mural-of-george-floyd-painted-on-a-wall-news-photo/1248065134?adppopup=true">Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Imagining otherwise</h2>
<p>The language of ships also calls to mind the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Middle-Passage-slave-trade">Middle Passage</a>, the leg of the Atlantic voyage through which ships trafficked stolen Africans for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html">enslavement</a> in America. During the trip, countless slaves were thrown overboard into the ship’s wake or chose to jump to escape torture. </p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/in-the-wake">In the Wake: On Blackness and Being</a>,” literary scholar Christina Sharpe uses the slave ship as a metaphor for the present-day condition that is being Black in America. </p>
<p>Sharpe describes that condition as “wake work.” Wake work means looking backward to keep vigil for the death lying in the wake and looking forward to the ship’s destination with hope and despair. Hope because the ship might be headed somewhere better, and despair because it almost certainly is not. </p>
<p>Wake work, Sharpe writes, is not only about the hard emotional, physical and mental work of vigilantly tracking and defending the dead. It is also about the equally exhausting work of imagining “otherwise from what we know now in the wake of slavery.” </p>
<p>Imagining otherwise is that new new. It’s a different interpretation about what tragedy means. </p>
<p>So what does imagining otherwise look like in the journalistic context? </p>
<p>There are stories that refused to use a news peg – that produced a new idea about the tragedies befalling Black Americans.</p>
<p>Consider a <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/5/14/1384734/-If-Trayvon-Martin-had-lived-Meet-Monroe-Bird-Shot-paralyzed-by-his-own-neighborhood-security">2015 story about Monroe Bird</a>, a Black man shot in Oklahoma by a white security guard, Ricky Stone, while sitting in a car with a white woman. </p>
<p>To justify the shooting, Stone claimed that Bird had a gun and was having sex in public, and that Bird tried to run him over with his car. No evidence was found to support those claims.</p>
<p>Bird did not become a news peg because he did not die during the incident. But life as Bird knew it did end. <a href="https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/monroe-bird-was-shot-by-a-security-guard-then-he-died-in-silence/">He was paralyzed from the waist down</a> and racked with <a href="https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/illegal-activity-fine-print-leaves-some-insured-but-uncovered/">medical debt</a> that health insurance didn’t cover. </p>
<p>A few months later, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/7/8/1400310/-The-devastating-death-of-Monroe-Bird-is-an-indictment-on-all-of-America">Bird died</a> from a blood clot because he was not being moved frequently enough, a simple preventative measure for paralyzed patients that Bird didn’t have access to.</p>
<p>The title of a news report on Bird? “<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/5/14/1384734/-If-Trayvon-Martin-had-lived-Meet-Monroe-Bird-Shot-paralyzed-by-his-own-neighborhood-security">If Trayvon Martin had lived: Meet Monroe Bird</a>.”</p>
<p>The story is one way to imagine otherwise. </p>
<p>The story took the familiar idea of Black Americans who have survived anti-Black violence and turned it on its head. The story shows that to not die is not to live. Then that idea morphs into a different idea: health care inequality.</p>
<p>Another version of imagining otherwise appeared in a self-published <a href="https://www.mninjustice.org/op-ed">op-ed column</a> written by an anonymous Minneapolis public defender. In the piece, the writer considers what would have happened to George Floyd if he had lived. </p>
<p>The answer is an imagined litany of underfunded and failed legal battles, the continued authorization of excessive force in police training manuals and another rotation of the cycle of violence in the American criminal justice system. </p>
<p>Tracking anniversaries is not wake work, it is not keeping vigilant watch, unless every time the next anniversary arrives it becomes an occasion to not only comment on the past but attempt to imagine otherwise, even if that otherwise is still without a happy ending.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lee M. Pierce is a volunteer for various liberal and leftist organizations and political candidates.</span></em></p>When there is nothing new to say, pegging news stories to the anniversaries of the deaths of Black Americans objectifies the victims and helps make violence ordinary.Lee M. Pierce, Assistant Professor Rhetoric and Communication, State University of New York, College at GeneseoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1617952021-06-13T11:27:32Z2021-06-13T11:27:32ZThe problem with online learning? It doesn’t teach people to think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405726/original/file-20210610-13-1fe9gcl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C377%2C6306%2C3813&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Instead of asking how universities might benefit from shifting courses online permanently, we ought to ask how students might suffer from fewer opportunities for lived experience and practice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The modern research university was designed <a href="https://www.economist.com/special-report/1997/10/02/inside-the-knowledge-factory">to produce new knowledge</a> and to pass that knowledge on to students. North American universities over the last 100 years have been exceptionally good at that task. </p>
<p>But this is not all that universities can do or should do. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it even easier to reduce <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/">teaching to knowledge dissemination</a> and to obscure other, equally important, forms of education that help students be better citizens, thinkers, writers and collaborators. </p>
<p>These other forms of education are the cornerstone of human flourishing and democratic participation.</p>
<p>This is a problem.</p>
<h2>Practical wisdom</h2>
<p>The Ancient Greeks relied on a distinction between <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/episteme-techne/#:%7E:text=Epist%C3%AAm%C3%AA%20is%20the%20Greek%20word,as%20either%20craft%20or%20art.&text=At%20the%20other%20end%20of,must%20be%20learned%20by%20practice.">“knowing-that” (<em>episteme</em>) and “knowing-how” (<em>techne</em>)</a>. This was the difference between an abstract body of theoretical knowledge about an area of interest and the practical wisdom necessary to carry out a specific task. </p>
<p>In music, for instance, we might call this the difference between knowing what pitch means, what notes are or the other aspects of music theory that help explain how to play — and knowing how to play an instrument like the piano really well. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Students stand in a line on campus wearing face masks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405769/original/file-20210610-27-1dj9yc6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students at Western University wait for a COVID-19 test in London, Ont., in September 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For American philosopher <a href="https://www.toolshero.com/change-management/john-dewey-theory/">John Dewey</a>, this amounts to the difference between an education that focuses on information and an education that focuses on habits of thinking and deliberation.</p>
<p>In <em><a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/How_We_Think.html?id=6-fof53Kq00C&redir_esc=y">How We Think</a></em> and <em><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/852/852-h/852-h.htm">Democracy and Education</a></em>, Dewey prioritized teaching how to solve problems over bodies of knowledge because he knew that improved thinking skills would produce better outcomes for students and for public life. </p>
<p>Dewey believed that acquiring knowing-how habits, like critical thinking, problem-solving and close reading, required interaction and imitation. The practices of reading, speaking and thinking were all intertwined for Dewey, and all required practice and reflection. Practising these related skills would improve our decision-making, as individuals and as communities.</p>
<p>The kind of imitation he had in mind — people imitating each other — is impossible in a remote setting. </p>
<p>Dewey also thought curiosity, along with a recognition of, and confrontation with, real problems set people in the direction of improved thinking. These were modelled by teachers through engagement and interaction with students. </p>
<p><em>How We Think</em> also argues that teaching students habits of using language for the purposes of persuasion is a central part of education. This drew Dewey’s work quite close to classical conceptions of rhetoric, or the teaching of how to speak and write effectively (including the emphasis on <a href="http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Pedagogy/Imitation.htm">imitation</a> as central to mastering the <em>techne</em> of communication). </p>
<p>These commitments were necessarily embodied in live practice in the classroom.</p>
<h2>Know-how compromised online</h2>
<p>The modern research university, since the late 19th century, has tended to prioritize “knowing-that” over “knowing-how” in a wide range of different disciplines (despite Dewey’s attempt to articulate an alternative). </p>
<p>Urban studies and planning professor <a href="https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/1026">Donald Schon’s work</a> at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Reflective-Practitioner-How-Professionals-Think-in-Action/Schon/p/book/9781857423198">reflective practice</a> was an attempt to correct this over-emphasis and apply Dewey’s approach to contemporary curricula. But the emphasis on “knowing-that” persists. </p>
<p>Remote learning is well suited to the kinds of education that focus on abstract theoretical knowledge and not “know-how.” And this is exactly the problem with those forms of learning — and why we ought to resist being seduced by them.</p>
<p>Some researchers argue that the adequacy of online learning is demonstrated by the fact that a <a href="https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/887">cohort of students might achieve the same grades in an online setting</a> as in an in-person setting. This justifies the assumption that there <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1062940.pdf">is no significant difference in academic performance</a> between the two settings. </p>
<p>But my analysis of how people learn, grounded in rhetorical studies and Dewey’s emphasis on embodied and practical forms of democratic education, and also in my own experience administering a first-year seminar program in a faculty of arts, points to the fact that it is much harder to teach (and to assess) the “knowing-how” skills that will matter more to students’ future success. </p>
<p>These include learning outcomes like knowing how to analyze data, collaboration with peers, self-reflection and reading and writing. </p>
<h2>Drowning in specialized knowledge</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/6-attributes-academic-discipline">Specialized bodies of knowledge are everywhere now</a>, not just in lecture halls or within the ivy-covered walls of elite institutions. If you want knowledge about advanced python programming or mycology, you can find it online through a range of different media for free. This is why silicon valley gurus can <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/04/10/silicon-valleys-increasing-skepticism-about-the-value-of-a-college-education/?sh=7829e67e535b">question the value of a degree from an expensive university</a>. </p>
<p>The threat to the university is this: boundless “knowing-that” is readily and easily available to any student because of the very same media that have made the transition to remote teaching easy. But the same is not true for the lived experience required for developing “knowing-how” habits and practices.</p>
<p>As we drown in ever-increasing amounts of available knowledge, our “knowing-how” forms of wisdom continue to suffer. This is true for elementary school students that need school to learn how to navigate social relationships and for university students trying to learn how to use the scientific method or perform a critical, close reading of a poem.</p>
<h2>Careful and close readings</h2>
<p>To teach a student how to carefully read a text, for example, is a responsibility of the university. But this feels unlikely in remote learning environments. Dewey’s focus on the importance of the interaction between student and teacher, the modelling and imitation of habits of thinking and the necessity of creative and collaborative problem solving in the classroom are all made more difficult in a remote setting. </p>
<p>An isolated 18-year-old, staring at a computer, can learn what a text is supposed to mean but will have a much harder time learning how to perform a careful interpretation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two students sit in grass with laptops studying next to each other outdoors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405768/original/file-20210610-19-tt8rm4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Law students Hannah Cho and Justin Capocci study on laptops at Western University in London, Ont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is also one of the many “knowing-how” skills that seem so broadly absent in our public culture. Close reading is akin to close listening, which is a requirement of collaboration and a precursor to self-reflection. Journalist Kate Murphy’s <em><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250297198">You’re Not Listening</a></em> shows just how complex the embodied task of reading someone else can be and how important listening and reading are for success in all fields. </p>
<h2>What we ought to ask</h2>
<p>Instead of asking how universities might benefit from shifting courses and curricula online permanently, we ought to be asking how students might suffer from fewer opportunities to focus on “knowing-how” and ever-greater commitments to “knowing-that.”</p>
<p>The pandemic has shown that we need finer, more well-honed and well-practised “knowing-how” skills. Skills like: asking thoughtful questions, finding new evidence, testing hypotheses, <a href="https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/communication-and-collaboration-skills/">collaborating with diverse others</a>, critically evaluating data or evidence, performing analysis of source material and designing new methods of evaluation. </p>
<p>These forms of wrestling and questioning are largely lost online. They get easily replaced with rote information processing. We should worry about the outcomes associated with that shift.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>We ought to worry that the pandemic has made it even easier to reduce teaching to disseminating knowledge.Robert Danisch, Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1562232021-03-03T15:00:02Z2021-03-03T15:00:02ZHow Zuma uses war metaphor to fight allegations of graft in South Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387163/original/file-20210302-21-1kapoft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former South African president Jacob Zuma at the State Capture Commission in July 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Early in February former President Jacob Zuma issued a <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/judgment-heralds-constitutional-crisis-in-sa--jaco">statement</a> defying a Constitutional Court decision compelling him to appear before the <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/">judicial commission</a> probing grand corruption in South Africa. He used a war metaphor to explain why he would be a victim if he adhered to the court’s decision. </p>
<p>The commission had asked the court to issue an order forcing him to testify before it. Zuma is central to the work of the commission as the allegations that the state had been captured for private benefit happened during his tenure which stretched from <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/profiles/president-jacob-zuma-0">May 2009 to January 2018</a>. He has also been implicated by witnesses at the commission as being complicit in the corruption.</p>
<p>The commission sought the intervention of the apex court after Zuma had walked out after his application that its chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, recuse himself was <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2020-11-23-jacob-zuma-scores-a-criminal-charge-for-walking-out-on-zondo-heres-how-he-got-there/">dismissed in November 2020</a>. The court <a href="https://theconversation.com/treating-zuma-with-kid-gloves-has-failed-what-now-for-south-africas-corruption-commission-154571">ruled</a> that he should cooperate with the commission.</p>
<p>Zuma’s defence against the commission is based on metaphorical reasoning. Understanding his key metaphor provides insight into his rhetorical strategy. He has <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/judgment-heralds-constitutional-crisis-in-sa--jaco">complained</a> that the </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Constitutional Court also mimics the posture of the commission … by suspending my Constitutional rights rendering me completely defenceless against the commission. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>To be defenceless presupposes that someone else is waging war against you.</p>
<p>Metaphors are not used for their own sake <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=wlerDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=political+metaphor+analysis+-+musolff&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq5fCT3pHvAhU2VRUIHTaODuMQ6AEwAHoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=political%20metaphor%20analysis%20-%20musolff&f=false">in politics</a>, but as part of a strategy to persuade a particular audience to accept a point of view, and act accordingly. Zuma clearly succeeds in persuading his loyalists to <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-02-09-we-will-support-zuma-until-death-do-us-part-mkmva-heads-to-nkandla/">continue to “defend” him</a>. Simultaneously, he uses it as a shield against being held accountable. </p>
<p>The metaphorical language is key to understanding these two contradictory consequences.</p>
<p>We have researched the language of <a href="https://repository.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/33090">South African political propaganda</a> as well as the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10228195.2013.868025">metaphors</a> used by post-apartheid South African presidents. Drawing on this analysis, we concentrate on Zuma’s two main statements about the commission: the <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/transcript/135/15_July_2019_Sessions.pdf">verbal statement</a> when he appeared before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on 15 July 2019, and his <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/judgment-heralds-constitutional-crisis-in-sa--jaco">written statement</a> on 1 February 2021. </p>
<p>His verbal statement is his most comprehensive personal account before the commission, and therefore consists of more natural and spontaneous speech than a formal, written account. We have used this statement alongside his 1 February statement, which focuses directly on the commission. </p>
<h2>Zuma’s wars</h2>
<p>Zuma speaks of war in its literal and metaphorical senses. His “narrative” starts with an actual war, the armed struggle for liberation against the apartheid government. When the war ended, the original goal was achieved and the African National Congress (ANC) was elected as the governing party.</p>
<p>Warfare is in general an important metaphor in political vocabulary and it is, therefore, not a surprise that it is an important metaphor in the political vocabulary of the ANC and other parties. For example, former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki once called on South Africans to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10228195.2013.868025">wage war</a> against the enemies of poverty and hunger, or gender-based violence, racism, sexism and xenophobia. They were calling on South Africans to be warriors, to fight with common purpose to defeat these metaphorical enemies.</p>
<p>Zuma’s purpose is different. As we show in our <a href="http://upnet.up.ac.za/services/it/documentation/docs/004167.pdf">research</a>, <em>Linking the dots: metaphors in the narrative of self-justification by former president Zuma</em>, he uses warfare metaphors to defend himself and persuade his supporters to continue supporting him. </p>
<p>He presents himself as the ultimate warrior for the economic liberation of the poor. In his <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/transcript/135/15_July_2019_Sessions.pdf">oral presentation</a> to the commission in 2019, and his <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/judgment-heralds-constitutional-crisis-in-sa--jaco">public statement on 1 February 2021</a>, he identifies his “stance on the transformation of this country and its economy” as the reason why he is the “target” of a campaign of “propaganda, vilification and falsified claims.”</p>
<p>Zuma turned on the heat in his <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/judgment-heralds-constitutional-crisis-in-sa--jaco">February declaration</a>, by claiming similarities between himself and <a href="https://theconversation.com/letters-reveal-africanist-hero-robert-sobukwes-moral-courage-and-pain-112439">Robert Sobukwe</a>, the late leader of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The parallels are too similar to ignore given that Sobukwe was specifically targeted for his ideological stance on liberation. I on the other hand am the target of propaganda, vilification and falsified claims against me for my stance on the transformation of this country and its economy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Zuma’s defiant stance reached a crescendo when he <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/judgment-heralds-constitutional-crisis-in-sa--jaco">proclaimed</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I do not fear being arrested, I do not fear being convicted nor do I fear being incarcerated. I joined the struggle against the racist apartheid government and the unjust oppression of black people by whites in the country at a very young age.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His language openly suggests that the liberation struggle and his current struggle are equally concrete and historical, pretending that there is nothing metaphorical in his narrative of self defence.</p>
<h2>Hiding behind metaphors</h2>
<p>The metaphor of warfare allows the former president to construct a version of reality that suits his purposes. He highlights incidents that make sense to him and his supporters as evidence of his opponents’ activities. Just like the apartheid security apparatus targeted him and other ANC operatives, his modern day “enemies” – security agencies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-monopoly-capital-an-excuse-to-avoid-south-africas-real-problems-75143">“white monopoly capital”</a>, the commission and Constitutional Court – target him as a part of their war against him. </p>
<p>At the same time, the metaphor of warfare, with its familiar role definitions, allows Zuma to evade those aspects of reality that do not fit the narrative. </p>
<p>He is the good warrior for the cause of those in poverty. The idea that he and his associates would do anything to harm the cause of <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/Economy/radical-economic-transformation-zuma-vs-ramaphosa-20170502">“radical economic transformation”</a>, does not fit his narrative. His warfare metaphor simply offers no room for conflicting facts or the possibility that he is prosecuted due to alleged violations of the law or the constitution. Like the lonely hero on stage at the end of a Shakespearean tragedy, Zuma told Justice Zondo <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/transcript/135/15_July_2019_Sessions.pdf">in July 2019</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Zuma must go. What has he done? Nobody can tell. He’s corrupt. What has he done? Nothing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This “nothing” is the point – in terms of the warfare metaphor – that paints him in the defenceless victim role. There is no rhetorical room for evidence of alleged wrongdoing. Allegations and evidence of wrongdoing are, therefore, strategically excluded from consideration.</p>
<h2>Zuma’s gambit</h2>
<p>Zuma’s narrative of self defence begins with his role in the literal liberation struggle, when he was an actual soldier and freedom fighter. He extends the language of warfare into the present, as a metaphor to make sense of his current persecution. Because the language of warfare is rooted in actual, concrete events, it seems coherent and reliable enough to make it credible and persuasive.</p>
<p>The former president’s metaphorical interpretation of reality excludes the possibility that evidence of his alleged wrongdoing can be incorporated into the same narrative: such evidence must, therefore, be rejected, or be reinterpreted, as falsehoods concocted by his opponents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bertus van Rooy received research funding under the Incentive Funding for Rated Researchers scheme from the National Research Foundation from 2008-2018.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ansie Maritz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Metaphors are not used for their own sake in politics, but as part of a strategy to persuade a particular audience to accept a point of view, and act accordinglyAnsie Maritz, Lecturer in Afrikaans linguistics, University of PretoriaBertus van Rooy, Professor of English linguistics, University of AmsterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1533762021-01-25T13:30:41Z2021-01-25T13:30:41ZStrange costumes of Capitol rioters echo the early days of the Ku Klux Klan - before the white sheets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380221/original/file-20210122-13-1bfdan7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C20%2C4537%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fringe groups have long understood that capturing the public's attention is the best way to spread their views.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/piece-of-graffiti-art-depicting-the-washington-capitol-news-photo/1295805725?adppopup=true">Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After the riots at the Capitol, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/capitol-rioter-horned-hat-gloats-feds-work-identify-suspects-n1253392">images</a> of Jacob Chansley, who’s been dubbed the “QAnon Shaman,” were <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/us/insurrection-capitol-extremist-groups-invs/index.html">splashed across news</a> outlets.</p>
<p>Chansley’s outlandish costume – consisting of American flag-themed face paint, a hat made of bison horns and coyote skins, a shirtless, tattooed torso and brown pants – was met with fascination and ridicule. </p>
<p>Given the outrageous nature of his garb, it might be easy to dismiss Chansley and the others wearing costumes or uniforms at the Capitol as silly or unhinged outliers. </p>
<p>However, after spending the last decade <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vvv4XfkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">studying the rhetoric</a> of organized racist groups in the United States, I know how outfits that look harmless and eccentric can actually have an insidious effect. In fact, costumes and uniforms have played a central role in the appeal of extremist groups throughout the history of the country.</p>
<h2>The triumph of the spectacle</h2>
<p>For many extremist groups, a primary goal is to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2012.01415.x">spread their group’s ideology</a> to the mainstream public. In order to accomplish this, groups need to gain as much widespread recognition as they can. </p>
<p>Costumes and uniforms are a form of spectacle that attract attention.</p>
<p>While most people recognize the infamous hood and white robes of the 1920s Klan, early Klan costumes were homemade, individualized and much more bizarre. </p>
<p>In the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan, “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Fiery_Cross.html?id=6O_XYBMhNYAC">imagination was encouraged</a>” in the creation of costumes by members, who competed to create the most “outrageous outfit.” </p>
<p>Historian Elaine Parsons notes that early Klan costumes <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ku_Klux/Gl60CAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+birth+of+the+klan+during+reconstruction&printsec=frontcover">were composed of</a> animal skins, horns, conical hats and gowns featuring a range of colors and patterns. Modeled after garb from carnivals and Mardi Gras traditions, the spectacle and performance of early Klan costumes helped to spur the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3659969">swift growth of the group</a>, which an 1884 history of the Klan described as “<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31819">a wave of excitement, spreading by contagions</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An 1871 engraving depicts a group of Klansmen surrounding a man on his knees with a rope around his neck." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380219/original/file-20210122-19-19dy2i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early Ku Klux Klan outfits had a carnival-like quality to them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/political-cartoon-in-which-ku-klux-klansmen-threaten-to-news-photo/640486525?adppopup=true">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And it is no coincidence that the revival of the Klan in the 1920s <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/02/08/383279630/100-years-later-whats-the-legacy-of-birth-of-a-nation">was in part popularized</a> by the costumed Klansmen portrayed in the blockbuster film “Birth of a Nation.” </p>
<p>Like the early Ku Klux Klan, the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/10/27/what-you-need-know-about-qanon">viral spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory</a> has been driven through spectacle. Chansley admitted as much. He has commented that his costume <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2021/01/06/arizona-qanon-supporter-jake-angeli-joins-storming-u-s-capitol/6568513002/">gets people’s attention</a>, which then gives him the opportunity to spread the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-qanon.html">tenets of the conspiracy theory</a>: that the world’s governments and banks are run by secret rings of Satan-worshiping pedophiles that manage child sex-trafficking organizations. </p>
<p>Other members of the movement are keenly aware of how their clothing can work to influence others. </p>
<p>Doug Jensen, the man seen in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/10/politics/doug-jensen-capitol-hill-police-officer/index.html">a viral video</a> at the head of a mob chasing a police officer through the Capitol building, <a href="https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-man-charged-in-capitol-riot-says-he-chased-officer-so-qanon-would-get-the-credit">said in an interview</a> that he purposefully positioned himself leading the charge wearing a “Q” shirt so that “Q” could “get the credit.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Jensen in a black hat and black t-shirt leads a mob of riotors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380224/original/file-20210122-13-1drg3py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Douglas Jensen confronts police in the U.S. Capitol wearing a ‘Q’ shirt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PicturesoftheWeekPhotoGallery-NorthAmerica/5213ab83f87f407ca74c1c84500ad43b/photo?Query=capitol%20AND%20breach&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1239&currentItemNo=95">Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Costumes and community</h2>
<p>Costumes and uniforms in extremist movements serve a second purpose: fostering community among members. </p>
<p>While Klan costumes became more homogeneous in the early 20th century, the white hood and robes did more than conceal the wearer’s identity. They also created a sense of “<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631493690">magnetism and prestige</a>” through group secrecy. One ritual of membership involved other members lifting their masks after new recruits joined.</p>
<p>In the era of the internet, costumes and uniforms help groups construct community in a different way. </p>
<p>Most organized extremist groups in the United States primarily communicate in anonymous online spaces, and members are often separated geographically. </p>
<p>For these reasons, costumes, uniforms and symbols on clothing can act as physical indicators of group unity. This can work to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2021/01/decoding-hate-symbols-seen-at-capitol-insurrection/">bring divergent groups together</a> – such as via a MAGA hat – or to denote a belief in a specific ideology, like patches with the QAnon motto “WWG1WGA,” an abbreviation for “Where We Go One, We Go All.”</p>
<p>To be sure, there are ways in which costumes and uniforms do more than simply operate as identifiers. </p>
<p>Hitler’s Nazi party believed that mass gatherings gave attendees a “<a href="https://search.proquest.com/docview/1291660995?fromopenview=true&pq-origsite=gscholar">sense of being protectively surrounded by a movement</a>,” with the uniformed guard creating “a tendency to place the center of authority in the Nazi party.” In other words, because people often associate uniforms with legitimacy or power, the use of uniforms can help extremist groups persuade people that they should be trusted. </p>
<h2>A higher cause</h2>
<p>With its costumes, the Reconstruction-era Klan liked to perpetuate the legend that its members were <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Fiery_Cross/6O_XYBMhNYAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+fiery+cross&printsec=frontcover">the ghosts of Confederate soldiers</a>. However, the Klan of the 1920s drew heavily upon religion in framing its mission as a holy cause. </p>
<p>One of the most violent Mississippi chapters of the Ku Klux Klan believed their members were chosen by God to conduct a <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvs32rk6">holy war</a> against the civil rights movement. Psychologist Wyn Craig Wade has noted how the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Fiery_Cross.html?id=6O_XYBMhNYAC">act of donning the costume was often recounted as ‘a holy experience’</a>” by members of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>It should be no surprise, then, that today’s racist and extremist groups have also used this tactic. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22d6tRXxVeg">In describing the meaning of his costume</a>, Chansley notes QAnon is engaged in a “war of a spiritual nature” and that his costume represents his status as a “light occultic force of the side of God” necessary to defeat an unseen, omnipotent force of evil. Some contemporary neo-Nazi and racist groups incorporate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/world/europe/vikings-sweden-paganism-neonazis.html">Norse symbolism and mythology</a>, while others, following the Klan, use Christianity to frame their racist ideology as righteous or divine.</p>
<p>Although costumes cannot tell us the entire story of a group or movement, they can provide a window into understanding how the groups and movements form and how their ideologies are spread. </p>
<p>While they never need to be entertained, neither should they be ignored.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kenneth Ladenburg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For many extremist groups, a primary goal is to spread their ideology. Costumes and uniforms – even ridiculous ones – are a form of spectacle that can garner attention and interest.Kenneth Ladenburg, Instructor of English, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531752021-01-21T13:15:01Z2021-01-21T13:15:01ZVoters are starting to act like hard-core sports fans – with dangerous repercussions for democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379617/original/file-20210119-23-1nnnq0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C7%2C5160%2C3414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The lines between political fandom and sports fandom have blurred.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fan-of-the-arkansas-razorbacks-with-his-donald-trump-face-news-photo/615582270?adppopup=true">Wesley Hitt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During Donald Trump’s presidency, the American electorate became <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-polarization-1994-2017/">more divided and partisan</a>, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfy005">research suggesting</a> that the ongoing division is less about policy and more about labels like “conservative” and “liberal.” </p>
<p>Essentially, voters increasingly see themselves in one of two camps – a “red team” and “blue team,” each with a faction of hard-core members. </p>
<p>The dangerous extent of this devotion was on display when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, convinced that the election had been stolen <a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">despite no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud</a>.</p>
<p>How did American politics get to this point?</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=T7T9cCoAAAAJ&hl=en">sports communication researchers</a> who have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FuzfpVMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">written extensively</a> on the vast and powerful influence of identity on attitudes and behavior, we believe our work can offer some ways to understand recent events.</p>
<p>We’ve noted parallels between political identity and sports fandom that, when unpacked, point to some of the dangers associated with what we call “political fandom.”</p>
<h2>Fandom can be central to identity</h2>
<p>In sports, the spectrum of fandom is easily observable. Some fans might casually enjoy games simply while <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/oydr3ikpne1XryWV6">wearing their team’s shirt</a>, whereas others ardently support and uproariously react to every play while cloaked in <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/hGSD7zAP97KWa4ko6">elaborate, outlandish outfits</a>. </p>
<p>But fandom can go beyond outfits. It can become a core component of your identity – your sense of who you are. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479519832017">Sports communication researchers</a> refer to this connection as “team identification,” a concept that transcends simply supporting a team and is, instead, characterized by a deeper, emotional attachment in which <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-16827-000">fans feel psychologically connected to their favorite team</a>. </p>
<p>These fans – called “highly identified fans” – are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479513514387">express their love of their team on social media</a>, attend events <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2015-0039">and consume more team-related media</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6793(200102)18:2%3C145::AID-MAR1003%3E3.0.CO;2-T">They’ll even buy team-related products</a> when they don’t particularly like the product itself. For the fan, it’s all about demonstrating allegiance.</p>
<p>Research shows that being a fan and belonging to a group <a href="https://bit.ly/3bTiZZz">can be beneficial to someone’s well-being</a>. But there can be a darker side to this kind of devoted fandom – particularly when a favorite team loses. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A crowd of Trump supporters wave Trump flags and wear red hats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379618/original/file-20210119-28-1n52rb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Like baseball fans wearing the hat of their favorite team, supporters of Trump are decked out in campaign regalia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gather-in-support-of-president-donald-trump-and-in-news-photo/1290903293?adppopup=true">Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Wins and losses become personal</h2>
<p>In sports, the final whistle signals a game’s end. </p>
<p>But the level to which fans identify with their team can actually influence how they feel and act after the game has been decided. <a href="http://www.people.vcu.edu/%7Ejldavis/readings/Cialdini%20et%20al%201976%20birg.pdf">For highly identified fans</a>, a win feels like a personal victory; a loss, on the other hand, feels like a personal defeat.</p>
<p>After wins, highly identified fans are more likely to bask in the glory of victory, tying themselves to the team <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.34.3.366">through the use of language</a> like “us” and “we.” </p>
<p>For those same highly identified fans, a loss isn’t simply disappointing. Instead, it poses a threat to their identity <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2006.11950074">and causes psychological discomfort</a> that leads to stress, depression and a greater willingness to confront others. They’ll often double down in support of their team. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2015.1127243">They might declare their team the best</a>, regardless of the outcome. They’ll say the loss was a fluke <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167291171014">and that external causes were to blame</a> – poor officiating, an injury or cheating by the other team.</p>
<p>As with sports, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/10/10/the-partisan-landscape-and-views-of-the-parties/">political identification and participation can occur on a spectrum</a>. Some people simply vote every election cycle for their preferred political party. Others, however, are heavily invested in the party and its candidates. They devour media, purchase campaign-affiliated merchandise and frequently flaunt their support in public and on social media.</p>
<p>After the 2020 presidential election, we wanted to know to what extent the concept of team identification applied to politics. We surveyed voters between Dec. 16 and Dec. 20, 2020, just days after the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-270-electoral-college-vote-d429ef97af2bf574d16463384dc7cc1e">Electoral College vote confirmed Joe Biden as president-elect</a>. Administering a questionnaire that’s used by sport communication researchers, we were able to show “team identification” – when applied to politics – can help explain certain beliefs and behaviors after the election.</p>
<p>We found that 55% of Trump voters in our survey still falsely believed that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election. This result was significantly influenced by their level of team identification; voters who were highly identified Trump supporters were more likely to hold this false belief.</p>
<p>Of course, Trump, some members of Congress <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/01/11/dc-riots-how-newsmax-oan-conservative-outlets-fueled-mob/6589298002/">and conservative media outlets</a> reinforced those false beliefs by sharing baseless information alleging election irregularities and voter fraud.</p>
<p>When we asked highly identified Trump supporters if they were likely to distance themselves after the loss, we found they retained unfettered loyalty to Trump, similar to the way a sports fan would react after a big loss. When asked why Biden had been declared president-elect, overwhelmingly, they blamed everything but Trump, most often echoing Trump’s false voter fraud claims.</p>
<h2>The ball is in the politician’s court</h2>
<p>This issue, however, is not unique to Trump and his supporters. </p>
<p>Many politicians have devoted fans. Our results showed – perhaps surprisingly – that both Biden and Trump voters rated similarly in terms of their levels of political team identification.</p>
<p>To us, this signals the extent to which our <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-polarization-1994-2017/">politics have become polarized</a>, with voters existing in separate camps that are unflaggingly devoted to their “team” and its leaders. </p>
<p>The onus, then, increasingly lies on politicians, <a href="https://www.jennifermercieca.com/demagogueforpresident">whose words wield even more power</a> when their followers closely identify with them.</p>
<p>In sports, after losing a close playoff game, a star player can congratulate the other team and admit to being outplayed or can blame the refs and accuse the other side of cheating without offering evidence. The former reaction might temper the emotions of die-hard fans, while the latter could easily exacerbate their negative feelings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fans revel in front of a car set ablaze." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379616/original/file-20210119-21-il6l6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vancouver Canucks fans riot after losing Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-pose-in-front-of-a-burning-vehicle-on-june-15-2011-news-photo/116450081?adppopup=true">Bruce Bennett/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s important for political leaders to consider the influence of political fandom. After an election, conceding after the “final whistle has blown” is an important norm and tradition, while divisive rhetoric that fans the flames of false hope is a dangerous tack to take. After all, in sports, highly identified fans are much more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/019372359301700207">become aggressive</a> when they expect their team to win, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjr001">only to witness a loss</a>. </p>
<p>Politics, though, isn’t a game. And on Jan. 6, the world saw what happens when political fandom is harnessed and unleashed by unfounded, inflammatory rhetoric.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Devlin receives funding from Texas State University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Brown Devlin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers find that the most devoted fans take their team’s defeats personally and often blame losses on the refs or cheating. Sound familiar?Michael Devlin, Associate Professor of Communication, Texas State UniversityNatalie Brown Devlin, Assistant Professor of Advertising, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.