Demasi, Mirko 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1112-8141
(2019)
Facts as social action in political debates about the European Union.
Political Psychology, 40 (1).
pp. 3-20.
Preview |
Text
Demasi (in press) - Facts as social action in EU debates.pdf - Accepted Version | Preview |
Abstract
This paper focuses on the argumentative role of making factual claims and counterclaims in broadcast political debates. Despite the rise of “post-truth politics”, this paper argues that orientations to issues of ‘fact’ and ‘truth’ are a live and controversial matter when debating the European Union. Using Discursive Psychology (DP) the analysis is on how politicians use fact-based (counter)claims in multi-party interactions, in the form of debates about the UK and the European Union. Three types of factual challenges are presented to illustrate the rhetorical function of claims: challenging the essence of an argument, providing another fact to re-contextualise the preceding fact and using hypothetical scenarios to undermine facts. The analysis demonstrates that the use of facts is a highly strategic, argumentative, matter. This study, understood against a backdrop of the rise of “post-truth politics”, highlights that concepts of ‘fact’ and ‘truth’ are not done away with; rather they are an argumentative resource and need to be understood in their fragmentary and rhetorical context.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | "This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Demasi, Mirko (2018) Facts as social action in political debates about the European Union. Political Psychology which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pops.12496 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving." |
| Status: | Published |
| DOI: | 10.1111/pops.12496 |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| School/Department: | School of Education, Language and Psychology |
| URI: | https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/3114 |
University Staff: Request a correction | RaY Editors: Update this record
Altmetric
Altmetric
