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Abstract
This article examines the relevance of rhetorical analysis for the theory and practice of rights-claiming. Recent work in the field of human rights proposes that what is important about rights is not what they ‘are’ but what they ‘do’. Utilising performative theory, they suggest that rights-claiming is best understood as a perlocutionary practice of persuasion. The question is, ‘How might rights claims be most persuasive?’ This article applies insights from the field of rhetoric to investigate how practices of rights-claiming by migrants in France contest French citizenship. It argues that rights claims are ethico-political negotiations of a political situation and that such practices are persuasive when they mobilise transcendent principles embedded within particular political communities. Rhetorical analysis explains how rights can be both inventive and efficacious. In so doing, this article extends the human rights literature by providing a refined rights-claiming analytic.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1190-1207 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Political Studies |
Volume | 71 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 10 Dec 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Nov 2023 |
Keywords
- citizenship
- migration
- performativity
- rhetoric
- rights
- the Sans-papiers
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Dive into the research topics of 'Rhetoric and Rights: Citizenship and the Politics of Persuasion'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Citizenship as Method - Postdoctoral Fellowship
Stullerova, K. (PI)
Economic and Social Research Council
01 Oct 2020 → 31 Dec 2021
Project: Externally funded research