The power of metaphor

consent, dissent and revolution

Erik Ringmar

pp. 119-136

in: Richard Mole (ed), Discursive constructions of identity in European politics, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Abstract

Political discourse is necessarily profoundly metaphorical; the language of politics is knee-deep in and entirely shot through by different metaphorical uses. This should not surprise us. Politics, after all, is the art of using power in order to achieve social goals. While some power can be exercised through the army and the police, far more can be accomplished — and more easily and cheaply — through the power of language. Metaphors give you power since they help to organise social life in a certain fashion. Metaphors tell you what things are and how they hang together; metaphors define the relationship between superiors and subordinates and between social classes; they identify social problems and their solutions and tell us what is feasible, laudable and true.