Book contents
- Oracy
- Oracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword: The Oracy That Democracy Needs
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Debating Oracy in the UK
- Part II Oracy in Global Context
- Part III Oracy in History and in Theory
- 10 What the Chartists and Suffragettes Realised about Oracy
- 11 From Elocution to Empowerment
- 12 Releasing Civic Voices
- 13 The Trouble with Oracy?
- Index
- References
12 - Releasing Civic Voices
from Part III - Oracy in History and in Theory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2025
Edited by
Book contents
- Oracy
- Oracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword: The Oracy That Democracy Needs
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Debating Oracy in the UK
- Part II Oracy in Global Context
- Part III Oracy in History and in Theory
- 10 What the Chartists and Suffragettes Realised about Oracy
- 11 From Elocution to Empowerment
- 12 Releasing Civic Voices
- 13 The Trouble with Oracy?
- Index
- References
Summary
In ‘Releasing Civic Voices’, the political scientist Stephen Coleman proposes a radical new understanding of oracy. He lays out a framework addressing power directly, emphasizing communicative justice. This shift moves beyond cultivating individual voices to a relational view of expressive efficacy. Communicating is seen as a product of social relationships rather than personal eloquence, involving addressing and listening within mutual attentiveness. All members of society engage in a continuous performance of self, vulnerable to interpretation within social interactions. Expressive agency is either realized or hindered within these relational dynamics. From this theoretical basis, Coleman concludes that oracy must offer resources beyond elocution training to navigate and potentially challenge these dynamics if it is to transcend its current limitations.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- OracyThe Politics of Speech Education, pp. 168 - 187Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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