'…A 40-Year-Old Black Man Made the Point to Me': Anecdotes, Everyday Knowledge and the Performance of Leadership in British Politics

Judi Atkins; Alan Finlayson

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00953.x

'…A 40-Year-Old Black Man Made the Point to Me': Anecdotes, Everyday Knowledge and the Performance of Leadership in British Politics

Judi Atkins, Alan Finlayson

University of East Anglia

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

72 Citations (SciVal)

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Abstract

In this article we demonstrate the application of Rhetorical Political Analysis in the study of political communication and political ideas and ideologies. Taking the rhetorical use of anecdotes as a case study, we find that their use by mainstream party leaders in Britain has proliferated markedly since the mid-1990s. Drawing on examples from speeches by leaders of all three main parties, we show how these stories are employed as a form of argumentative proof that significantly relies on the elevation of “everyday” experience and knowledge above expert or technical knowledge. We argue that this reflects a more general “valorisation of lay knowledge” and, moreover, that it is indicative of a form of populist ideology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	161-177
Journal	Political Studies
Volume	61
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00953.x
Publication status	Published - Mar 2013

Bibliographical note

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Atkins, J. and Finlayson, A. (2013), ‘... A 40‐Year‐Old Black Man Made the Point to Me’: Everyday Knowledge and the Performance of Leadership in Contemporary British Politics. Political Studies, 61: 161-177, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00953.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.

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10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00953.x

Everyday Knowledge and the Performance
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Atkins, J. and Finlayson, A. (2013), ‘... A 40‐Year‐Old Black Man Made the Point to Me’: Everyday Knowledge and the Performance of Leadership in Contemporary British Politics. Political Studies, 61: 161-177, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00953.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Accepted author manuscript, 342 KB

Cite this

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abstract = "In this article we demonstrate the application of Rhetorical Political Analysis in the study of political communication and political ideas and ideologies. Taking the rhetorical use of anecdotes as a case study, we find that their use by mainstream party leaders in Britain has proliferated markedly since the mid-1990s. Drawing on examples from speeches by leaders of all three main parties, we show how these stories are employed as a form of argumentative proof that significantly relies on the elevation of “everyday” experience and knowledge above expert or technical knowledge. We argue that this reflects a more general “valorisation of lay knowledge” and, moreover, that it is indicative of a form of populist ideology.",

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'…A 40-Year-Old Black Man Made the Point to Me': Anecdotes, Everyday Knowledge and the Performance of Leadership in British Politics

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