Page 132 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6
P. 132
Hall’s work reveals that “deliberation is not and cannot be a purely rational enterprise and
argues the importance of deliberation as a process involving passion and reason” (p. 82). By
addressing the need for the role of passionate rhetoric and reasoned communication in the context
of deliberation and the extent to which normative forms of communication are privileged, Hall
(2007) presented a critique that is contradictory to the ideals of dialogue and civic engagement. (p.
85).
Referencing the work of Young (1996), Hall noted that, to privilege reason and disparage
passion is to perpetuate a fundamentally masculine value system and a system of public
engagement and discourse that values white males over minority and female participants.
Deliberative theorists expect participants to be political equals, but norms of respect in society
make people differently able to influence political discussions and thus outcomes. Also, proposed
‘procedures of argumentation’ are not universal or universally practicable. Iris Marion Young has
argued that they embody white, western, educated male norms of reasoning (Young 1996).
So how does this internal exclusion take place? To begin with, some have argued that the
norms of expression in traditional deliberative democracy such as calm, straightforward
argumentation, possess certain cultural biases; for example, Young notes dialogue characterized
by reason-giving privileges a certain kind of educated citizen, who is more likely to come from
some groups than others, and more likely to be concerned with certain types of issues.
To the same effect, traditional deliberation that privileges dispassionate speech
disadvantages and excludes those individuals who might favor more emotional expression. For
this reason, Young criticizes what she deems a false dichotomy between reason and emotion,
favoring deliberation as a balanced process that allows for both reason and emotion to be expressed
simultaneously. (Rothchild 2014) Young furthering this notion, also argues that too strong an
113