Persuasion in social conflicts: A critique of prevailing conceptions and a framework for future research

Abstract

It is argued here that students of rhetoric and communication, along with scholars in other disciplines, have tended to reflect “Establishment” biases in treatments of persuasion in social conflicts. As a result, we have often failed to come to grips with the nature of conflict, the needs of “OUTS” and “HAVE‐NOTS,” and the utility of conflict for societies. In the place of prevailing “system orientations,” a “dual perspective” is proposed—one which would examine persuasion in conflicts from the viewpoint of both the actors attempting to maximize their interests in conflict situations and the system attempting to regulate conflict in the collective interest. The concept of “coercive persuasion” is introduced, and several suggestions for research are offered.

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