As one of the consequences \;of the lingering process of corrosion of the rationalist assumptions of the \;Enlightenment project\, in the last decades we have witnessed an attempt in \;different areas of the humanities \;to revive the central role rhetoric used to \;have in antiquity. Despite \;its \;political origins\, however\, \;the contribution of political theory to this \;important endeavour has only come of late\, as more and more theorists \;have started \;to expose the rhetorical nature of politics in multiple manners: showing how it \;can be used to offer more sophisticated accounts of public deliberation\, more \;attentive toward emotive aspects and \;contexts\; or revealing it as an important manifestation \;of practical reason\; or studying its presence in canonical thinkers and \;critical moments in the history of political thought\; or finally\, taking it as an \;inspiring \;source for a post-foundationalist emancipatory political theory. \;
\nThis variety of \;approaches testifies to the pervasiveness of the rhetorical dimensions in the \;whole realm of politics\, from action to theory. The aim of this conference is to \;bring together scholars coming from \;disciplines such as political theory\, \;philosophy\, history\, literature\, or communication\, to debate the multifaceted \;significance of rhetoric in politics and to explore new ways to incorporate a &lsquo\;rhetorical \;perspective&rsquo\; \;in the study of political thought. Our hope is that this event could \;offer an important \;moment to \;assess and foster the still \;incipient revival of rhetoric in this \;area.
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The conference will be \;organized in plenary and parallel sessions. \;
Proposals for the latter are \;invited \;on\, \;but not limited to\, topics such as: \;rhetoric and the limits of rational deliberation\, rhetoric as a \;manifestation \;of practical reason\, rhetoric and civic education\, rhetoric and the public \;intellectual\, rhetoric and post-foundationalist political theory\, rhetoric and \;political change\, rhetoric and the symbolic space \;of politics\, rhetoric in \;canonical political thinkers and in the history of political thought.
\nIn order to propose a \;paper\, an abstract of no more than 500 words should be sent to \;rhetoricandpolitics2013(at)gmail.com \;(with &ldquo\;Rhetoric and \;Politics 2013 Submission&rdquo\; in the subject line of the message)
\nThe deadline for the \;abstract is \;10 February 2013
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In addition to the \;abstract\, please include in your proposal your academic title\, name\, \;affiliation\, and the title of your contribution
Conference fees
\n&euro\;60 \;for students (BA\, MA \;and PhD levels)
&euro\;90 for non-students
Organization: \;the event is organized \;by the Political Theory Group of CEHUM\, University of Minho
https://sites.google.com/site/cehumfilosofiapolitica/
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